no rust ever

williamsld8

williamsld8

Joined
Sep 19, 2010
Messages
226
ok so after reading through pages and pages and archives and archives around here trying to soak up as much knowledge as i can, i have noticed one thing that still baffles me. i dont post much. im one of the quiet ones that just sits in the back and listens. but this i have to ask about. most posters mention rust on certain points of the blade, and different types of steel rusting easily or faster than others. different uses causing more rust issues, rust rust and more rust rusting rustiness. i have to tell you, believe me or not, i have NEVER oiled a blade of mine. i use dmt diafolds as my primary sharpening method now, and i use water on them. my knives are devided into two categories, ones i play with and ones i carry. the ones that i do carry, get used for everything. from opening a bag of carrots to opening mail to cutting cardboard, cutting rope, cutting food if i am in the field, opening a bag of popcorn (i turn the bag into a bowl) and everything in between that you can think of. regardless of which knife it is, from sitting in my drawer, to sitting in my pocket, to sitting in my storage unit for 1 1/2 years through harsh winters, i have YET to see rust on a blade of mine. and to top it off, these blades i clean with soap and water afterwards and dont lubricate. am i blessed? or have i just hit a giant string of luck?
 
You have almost certainly just jinxed yourself, my good man!

I recommend saying a bunch of Hail Marys, knocking on wood, reciting the alphabet backwards, and drinking a cup of salt water upside down. May the force be with you.
 
Some climates don't seem to rust steel while others seem to be able to rust out brass (haha) I guess your one of the lucky ones.

One of the questions I have to ask is whether or not your using stainless or carbon steels. In my experience and in my area, stainless steels don't rust... even when wet, carbon however will rust dry in a drawer after a week or so.
 
What steel types are your knives? Non-stainless steels? Non of my stainless have ever had rust on them. I've seen rust on 154CM, 1095, 01, 1080, etc.
It's possible to not have rust on carbon steels if they are oiled, dry, clean, and not stored in a wet leather sheath.
 
my dad once had an old falcon that was dented and had a small spot of rust on the driver door. but being in southern cali it pretty much stayed the same for 10yrs, i however have been here a few weeks and the frame on my gs1000 already shows some specs, you just have good luck
 
its where u live bud. And probably a few other factors as well including HVAC Take a visit to the rust belt and if your non stainless blades still dont rust then they are posessed by old Scratch himself.
 
williamsld8 said:
ok so after reading through pages and pages and archives and archives around here trying to soak up as much knowledge as i can, i have noticed one thing that still baffles me. i dont post much. im one of the quiet ones that just sits in the back and listens. but this i have to ask about. most posters mention rust on certain points of the blade, and different types of steel rusting easily or faster than others. different uses causing more rust issues, rust rust and more rust rusting rustiness. i have to tell you, believe me or not, i have NEVER oiled a blade of mine. i use dmt diafolds as my primary sharpening method now, and i use water on them. my knives are devided into two categories, ones i play with and ones i carry. the ones that i do carry, get used for everything. from opening a bag of carrots to opening mail to cutting cardboard, cutting rope, cutting food if i am in the field, opening a bag of popcorn (i turn the bag into a bowl) and everything in between that you can think of. regardless of which knife it is, from sitting in my drawer, to sitting in my pocket, to sitting in my storage unit for 1 1/2 years through harsh winters, i have YET to see rust on a blade of mine. and to top it off, these blades i clean with soap and water afterwards and dont lubricate. am i blessed? or have i just hit a giant string of luck?
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Well, you can try storing an unoiled carbon steel blade in a leather sheath. If it doesn't patina at the very least, I'll be damned.
 
California is where the OP lives. Most of the state has very low humidity. Even a traditionally foggy place like the Bay Area is not terribly humid in terms of the dominant air mass. Please note the OP DOES NOT live in Alabama or East Texas or Missouri or Indiana or Florida. I also have to wonder if the the OP doesn't also just have good habits? Maybe, oil or no, the blade gets wiped down after each use or before storage? For what it's worth, I live in Indiana and have little trouble with rusty knives or tools although they do get a periodic rubdown with oil...tools we're talking once every couple three years here.
 
I've never had any of my carbon steel knive rust either, come to think of it. I even have a few 1095 blades that have been sitting in leather sheaths for years, and never a hint of rust. And I hardly ever oil them, maybe a shot of WD-40 when I first get them but that's about it.

I do have knives that get a patina from cutting food and vegetation, but never actual rust. I guess I didn't realize it was a real issue for other folks??

And I live in Iowa where the humidity is rediculously high in the summer.
 
op lives in a low humidity area [i used to surf there] but he's correct if you wash & dry your blades immediately after use ---no rust.dennis
 
HoosierQ said:
California is where the OP lives. Most of the state has very low humidity. Even a traditionally foggy place like the Bay Area is not terribly humid in terms of the dominant air mass. Please note the OP DOES NOT live in Alabama or East Texas or Missouri or Indiana or Florida. I also have to wonder if the the OP doesn't also just have good habits? Maybe, oil or no, the blade gets wiped down after each use or before storage? For what it's worth, I live in Indiana and have little trouble with rusty knives or tools although they do get a periodic rubdown with oil...tools we're talking once every couple three years here.
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ill be honest it took me a few times reading this to figure out what OP meant :cool: and this is the part that i forgot to mention. i lived in indiana for the first 20 years of my life, and im only just now going on 23. and ive had gerbers made in china, frosts, kershaws that were us made (skyline and od-1 with sandvik, storm II made with whatever it was made with) a couple of buck knives made of 420, a hand full of other knifes made of 440c and two skinning knives made of a steel whose name i cannot remember, but was a carbon steel. these knives saw most of their lives in indiana and only just recently have they experienced the california whether (just like me). but also just like me, they miss indiana dearly. and where is this "rust belt" you guys speak of?:eek:
 
I haven't gotten rust yet being a relatively new collector, but as I buy more fixed blades I'm very wary of rust when storing them in their sheaths for long periods of time. This is my biggest concern right now. I've been doing a lot of research on what oils/methods to use so I'll be ready for when my collection gets that big.
 
i am unlucky enough to have rusted a good sort of my knives, but i live in a humid area and i sweat alot when i work, i recently read that carbon steel can make stainless steel rust? i dont have much of a collection and pretty much use all my knives, so far this is what has shown some form of rust for me

vg-10 - spyderco
aus-8a - cold steel
1095cv - ka-bar / bk&t
14c28n - kershaw
13c26 - kershaw
 
Summers are hot and humid where I live... Really hot and humid. Those of you who live or have lived in the American south will know what I'm talking about, so maintaining your blades is part of the game in humid climates. All my carbon steel sheath knives get coated down with some Ballistol and remain rust free throughout the year.
 
The rust belt is the industrial manufacturing area south of the Great Lakes. If you don't oil your blades and have never had a carbon steel blade rust and you live in Indiana then you either baby your knives or you just didn't have carbon steel blades. It is easy to keep even a hard-use blade rust free if it is well maintained and oiled.
 
I live in North Hollywood, CA and have zero issues with rust. I have a blade in 1084 that I carry in my car that has never been oiled, just wiped off after use and there is zero rust. All my firearms are taken care of after shooting, but even if not used for many years are all rust free.

California sucks for many things, but rust is not one of them.
 
Another factor that one must consider is how caustic your sweat is. Some people's sweat & oils are much more corrosive than others and can cause rust (some people's fingerprints can eat varnish.) Just your body going through normal perspiration during the day can cause corrosion.
 
I bought a friend of mine a couple of ceramic Kyocera knives for Christmas and he doesn't worry about them rusting. I've had good luck with the stainless blades but the 1095 and other carbon blades need a little more care.
 
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