mouse pee on steel ???

Jack O'Neill · Sep 9, 2009

Hi guys , any one know what mouse pee would do to steel ? Here is the story.

I had 3 knives from my own collection down in the shop . They had been rebuffed and washed . Oh , they are ATS-34 . They have been sitting down there for 3-4 days . Today I decided it was time to bring them in and hand finish the polish . I wrapped each knife in a paper shop towel ( the blue ones from costco ) walked from the shop to the house and unwrapped them .

Then WTF

The paper towel was stuck on one of the knives , when I peeled it off , the blade was a brown color , it looked burnt and rusted at the same time . Ran it back down stairs and washed it with acetone , would not even touch whatever was on it .

I buffed off the top coat of crap with black compound but the pattern of the paper towel is etched into the steel .

The only thing I can think of what might happened is a mouse peed on the blade , it was the side of the blade that was facing up . Is this possible ??

This is a real bummer for me as I was going to sell these from my collection to help pay some of the medical bills coming in from the eye surgery .

cotdt · Sep 9, 2009

I once had a guinea pig that kept peeing at a specific spot on his metal cage. After a few months the rodent piss corroded through the metal cage and he escaped.

ken erickson · Sep 9, 2009

Early in my gunsmithing career I discovered that mouse poop will eat the bluing right off fine firearms! My first shop was nothing but a converted tractor shed on my Dad's hobby farm and was infested with rodents. I came in one morning and had left a receiver flat on my bench (If I remember, it was either a Rem 742 or 7400). About 10 mouse droppings were on the side, removed them, and could still see were every one had been. I would assume mouse pee would do the same.

Ken

BlazenGem · Sep 9, 2009

cotdt said:
I once had a guinea pig that kept peeing at a specific spot on his metal cage. After a few months the rodent piss corroded through the metal cage and he escaped.

thats the smartest guinea pig I have ever heard of :thumbup:

ryan9977 · Sep 9, 2009

jack i have etched knives with paper towels covering them and it does pick up a pattern so if it got wet somehow it definately could have happened.....

who made them...maybe u could return it to the maker for a refurb....i had a bowie that was trashed!....and i returned it to the maker and he got it brand new lookin...all he asked for was some money for a case of beer!:thumbup:.....ryan

JasonSCarter · Sep 9, 2009

old gunsmiths used to make "browning" agent with piss and rust, the uric acid etched the steel. your best bet is to send it back to the maker to have it refurbished.

Jason

sunshadow · Sep 9, 2009

Mouse urine ruined the cylinder walls of one of my small-block mopar engines

_Page

mete · Sep 9, 2009

Rodent pee is responsible for large amounts of damage to metals .Various components of urine do a fine job. BTW human pee works as well .Buy me a beer and I'll tell you about "Johnson's john"

JR42 · Sep 10, 2009

Rat piss rusted the hell out of a couple of files I left laying out. I'm surprised it had such an effect on ATS-34.

Don Hanson III · Sep 10, 2009

JR42 said:
Rat piss rusted the hell out of a couple of files I left laying out. I'm surprised it had such an effect on ATS-34.

Many years ago, I sold an Almar with ATS34 blade to a guy to use around saltwater. Two weeks later he brought it back, all rusted to hell and was pissed

I gave him his money back, cleaned up the knife and still have it. I do not like the steel at all though. Even stainless needs to be taken care of.

Jack O'Neill · Sep 10, 2009

It happened so fast . There could not have been more than 7 minutes from the time I wrapped them up and then unwrapped them . Dry mouse pee on the blade is the only thing I can think of .

Jack O'Neill · Sep 10, 2009

mete said:
Rodent pee is responsible for large amounts of damage to metals .Various components of urine do a fine job. BTW human pee works as well .Buy me a beer and I'll tell you about "Johnson's john"

I'd buy you a beer Mete , but we can skip the story , I have done maintenance work in restrooms and seen enough of that .

TJ Smith · Sep 10, 2009

What an idea. Can anyone think of a way to get mice to pee in a specific spot?
TJ

A C Richards · Sep 11, 2009

Don Hanson III said:
Many years ago, I sold an Almar with ATS34 blade to a guy to use around saltwater. Two weeks later he brought it back, all rusted to hell and was pissed I gave him his money back, cleaned up the knife and still have it. I do not like the steel at all though. Even stainless needs to be taken care of.

I threw away a box of rusted ATS 34 blades I had not finished when I moved. ATS will rust, it is not stainless but stain resistant. I had some of the freshly ground blades rust badly overnight. Mouse pee would definitely speed up the process. Also some of the paper towels have a chemical in them that can cause problems also. I stopped using the blue ones from costco because of this problem on carbon steel.