oxidized spots

jharpphoto

jharpphoto

Joined
Jan 22, 2011
Messages
290
took my bushcrafter camping last weekend and had a bit of moisture on the blade. There are a couple of rusty spots on the blade. What is a good way to remove these?
 
First, cut stuff with the knife and see if that cleans it up enough for your tastes. Fuzz sticks are good about this. If that doesn't work, carefully use scotchbrite pads and WD40 to remove the spots. Do this carefully working only the bevels and only in the direction of the scratches.
 
Likely your blade is 01 or 02 tool steel, which can and does experience oxidation aka rust easily unless the steel, in this case your "bushcrafter" is properly cared for after use. ( keep in mind that stainless steel will too corrode in time if not cared for )There are lots of metal polish compounds out there readily available. I use the same one that I use for polishing silver with a cotton balls.... I'd say avoid abrasive materials unless you are familiar with them. You could easily scratch your blade up. . that said you might not really be concerned with aesthetics in that case Scotch Brite in the finest grit you can find is a good way to rust. Search the forums or use Google. To this I will add you can arrest the corrosion but in the case of long term neglect once the rust is removed the "scar", if you will, will be ever present, and only a "spa treatment" might, depending on how deep the corroded area, help.

More important than this is how one cares for their blade/tool after use.
If/when you wash your blade, by all means, do make sure you dry it well and apply some type of oil. Use food grade oil if you plan on using your blade for food prep. On that note if you Do use a polish on your blade and you Do use it to cut the occasional apple or cheese or slicing cured meats make sure you've cleaned your blade thoroughly before your wipe dry and stow your blade... On that note, many people will say to avoid stowing your blades in leather until you are gearing up for an excursion. I agree wholeheartedly with that having years ago come across the very thing you did that prompted your post..


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Mothers mag and aluminum is where I start a small dab will do ya... white diamond polish is my go to before I try polish wheels... both are really gentle... I've used both exclusively restoring 100 or so straight razors which are mostly carbon steel


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Fiddleback said:
First, cut stuff with the knife and see if that cleans it up enough for your tastes. Fuzz sticks are good about this. If that doesn't work, carefully use scotchbrite pads and WD40 to remove the spots. Do this carefully working only the bevels and only in the direction of the scratches.
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This^^^^
The boss man is a wealth of knowledge. There is just something about actually using on wood that helps greatly
 
Renwax has a mild solvent in it that evaporates. Washing the blade with soap and water and a non-abrasive sponge, followed by drying and wipe down with isopropyl alcohol, followed by application of the renaissance wax as a protectant, may serve both purposes in terms of intervention and future prevention. If you do use a polish, take care to avoid the 3D spalting on the flats or you may remove them by accident.
 
Panthera tigris said:
Renwax has a mild solvent in it that evaporates. Washing the blade with soap and water and a non-abrasive sponge, followed by drying and wipe down with isopropyl alcohol, followed by application of the renaissance wax as a protectant, may serve both purposes in terms of intervention and future prevention. If you do use a polish, take care to avoid the 3D spalting on the flats or you may remove them by accident.
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Been there done that hahah... yeah I have taped off the spalting area in previous blades so that way if u go nuts on polishing it won't effect the spalting mineral oil or frog lube is non toxic and works well as protectant if you're using a lot for food prep ... with mineral oil you may have to wipe off and reapply every once in a while as it has a tendency to pool


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Buy a metal cleaning & polishing paste named "Happich Simichrome Polish" A.G. Russell sells & recommends it for knife cleaning and it's gentle enough to use on sterling silver as James Avery Jewelers recommends and sells it as well.

This stuff is amazing and can get rid of years worth of patina in just a couple of applications. It also leaves a protective layer on it similar to Renwax
 
ColtMan said:
Buy a metal cleaning & polishing paste named "Happich Simichrome Polish" A.G. Russell sells & recommends it for knife cleaning and it's gentle enough to use on sterling silver as James Avery Jewelers recommends and sells it as well.

This stuff is amazing and can get rid of years worth of patina in just a couple of applications. It also leaves a protective layer on it similar to Renwax
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Simichrome is great stuff. Off-topic but have had great results smoothing and doing trigger jobs on revolvers, Glock and HK internals with this.


That being said, you (speaking mostly to the OP) may want to first test your "chemical/compound/polish of choice" on something other than a custom knife to see if you want the expensive custom knife to be that shiny and polished. Also keep Andy's advice in mind where he said to follow the direction of the vertical grind lines/scratches.
 
You can send it in to fiddleback for a spa day... i had that on a knife I bought used....if u don't want to send it in or are very hands-on or handy, I can try to walk you through a light restoration ... pm me for details..

One of the knives i did

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If the spots are not too deep then stropping on black & green compound along the grind lines also helps remove them.
 
Warrior108 you and I think alike. I use Happich on my knives, gun triggers & jeweled bolts and I even use it freshen up my dive watches. If only Happich could clean up our Presidential candidates
 
ColtMan said:
Warrior108 you and I think alike. I use Happich on my knives, gun triggers & jeweled bolts and I even use it freshen up my dive watches. If only Happich could clean up our Presidential candidates
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I've never tried that on knives because the gun parts turn out so slick and mirror shined.

For the subject of this post, I've had good results taping off the spalting, using a folded paper towel, 6 micron Dia-paste, edge down on an old pair of jeans, spine lifted and go from spine to edge direction.
 
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