M390 staining ?

[Gary W. Graley]

Hi folks, figured this might be as good a place as any to ask this question, didn't find it in any searches.

I have a new Steel Will Modus in M390 and was surprised that after slicing up a hot sausage sub the other nite that the blade had stained, I did wipe the blade off after eating before putting the knife away, so it wasn't sitting for long. I thought the M390 would be more stain resistant than that?

and please note, there wasn't any rusting at all, just a very light stain, but that did clean off immediately using the Bar Keepers Friend, so it must have been from the mustard that was within the sandwich.

G2

 

[Cryptyc]

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads...ake-m390-and-an-unknown-manufacturer.1550001/

Maybe check this thread sir. Seems a little suspect. I don’t own any of their knives but seems fishy.

 

[Mo2]

m390 20cv 204p will stain. its a stainless steel so its very likely it will stain at some point. depends on the temper/heat treatment. iirc reading in the bladesmith section, some will focus the ht on being more stainless while other protocols might focus on edge retention.

the thread linked above doesn't really prove anything except that at least one modus has issues with ht or steel type. steel will is going to inspect it once they get it back.

in any case just recently a guys benchmade 20cv anthem was getting rust spots easily.

as was mentioned in that thread... use some bar keepers friend to clean it off and oil the blade to protect it.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Thanks guys I really like this knife so I was surprised by the stain, if I had left it on for a long time. I’ll see how it goes
G2

 

[Mo2]

here's the thread in reference above
https://www.bladeforums.com/posts/17757450/

you can try and test it for edge retention if you think there is a problem with the steel... then if you find issues do a warranty request.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I wouldn't really expect M390 to be completely stain-resistant. Carbon content in M390 is real high, almost 2%. Great for heat-treated hardness (edit: and carbide-enhanced wear resistance), but carbon in steel is also what makes it more reactive to corrosion or staining. In spite of the steel's 20% chromium content, much of which will go to forming carbides with all that carbon, instead of adding corrosion resistance, it'd be hard to keep the steel completely stain-resistant. Hardness of the steel will contribute to corrosion issues as well (harder = more vulnerable). Throw in stuff like salts & acid content from food, and it's even more vulnerable.

 

[Gary W. Graley]

I’ve always told folks at work that stainless doesn’t mean stain never, just less

And the tip about using Bar Keepers Friend is great, I hadn’t thought of that for my blades just used it on my ceramic stones, but just a smidgen of it on a damp paper towel and like magic the steel was like new again!

G2

 

[Aquaholicc]

I’ve always told folks at work that stainless doesn’t mean stain never, just less

And the tip about using Bar Keepers Friend is great, I hadn’t thought of that for my blades just used it on my ceramic stones, but just a smidgen of it on a damp paper towel and like magic the steel was like new again!

G2

It seems BKF has saved another soul!

 

[Gary W. Graley]

No kidding it was like magic and didn’t leave scratches either
G2

 

[Groundhogsniper]

Not to hijack the thread, but does BKF also work well on carbon steel knives such as 1095?

 

[jbarsquat]

Not to hijack the thread, but does BKF also work well on carbon steel knives such as 1095?

Yeah it works great!

 

[`br4dz-]

There are multiple people having issues with Steel Will's "M390", put in quotation marks because I'm beginning to think it's not M390. It performs at 20% of what M390 should on edge retention, and now staining that easily?

 

[halden.doerge]

Any pics?

 

[Gary W. Graley]

I didn’t get any at the time and now it’s pristine

G2