Preventing Corrosion on Carbon Steel

[Buzzbait]

I was talking to a buddy at work today who has what sounds like a pretty cool little trick up his sleeve. When he used to do a lot of trapping in his youth, he’d blacken his carbon steel traps, so they wouldn’t rust. What he did was to boil the traps in a kettle full of water and birch chips. Something about the birch chips would patina the steel before the water had a chance to cause any actual rust. So after three hours of boiling, he’d have carbon steel with perfect patina.

This is quite relevant to me, as I tend to go out into some pretty corrosive environments. My carbon steel knives tend to rust very quickly, and require quite a bit of maintenance. If I could get a nice even patina on these knives, I wouldn’t have to worry much about rust anymore.

So the questions to you are…….. Have you ever heard of this? And would boiling a carbon steel knife mess up the heat treat?

 

[knifenerd]

I don't know about the birch chips, but I don't think the boiling would affect the temper. Water boils at 212 degrees F. I don't think that is anywhere near the tempering temperature.

 

[Alberta Ed]

Well, I dunno... I'm not sure whether the patina resulting from boiling in birch chips would actually protect the steel. I know it's done to remove human scent from traps. My Carbon V blades take on a natural patina from exposure to (I think) acids in meat, fruit, etc., and the occasional tinge of (ar-r-r-gh!) rust, but I rely on BreakFree to protect them from serious corrosion.

 

[Ebbtide]

Use (& enjoy) your knife, let the stains (patina) build up & there will be less rust to deal with.
You can hasten the process with citrus juice, there was a thread about it...now in the archives.
I saltwater fished with my trusty Schrade Sharpfinger for years & never had a problem with rust. At the end of the day, or maybe the next am, soap & water, dry and WD40. Oh yeah, and a wipe on the pantleg or rag, before it goes in the sheath each time. I know there is better than WD40, but it has been working for me
I got a tube of 'Flitz' and went Flitz-Happy...got that sharpfinger nice and shiney. Then realized that I like the old hammer look better . But not to worry it is getting back to its former self...little by little.
Enjoy,
Ebbtide