Rust on my folder: Please Help!

[Crayola]

Hello All! I have a Benchmade Sentinel (875) which I love sooooooo much. Well, except for the rust that has formed on the tang! I was wondering, for informational purposes only (I wouldn't want to disassemble my knife, as that would end my warranty privileges!), how easily the blade could be removed? I assume that some steel wool would do the trick. Also, should the tang be coated with some kinda lube in the future? Thanks.



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"Come What May..."

 

[Chang]

how easily the blade could be removed?

You mean the rust on the blade? Or removing the blade? The blade can be removed by disassembling the knife, but you didn't want to do that. If you want to remove the rust on the tang, I suppose you could do so very carefully with a cotton swab and some polishing compounds rubbed into the cotton tip and carefully removing the rust on the area where the liner lock makes contact to the knife (I assume that is where the rust is). Or make a cute little wooden thing and put some high grit sanpaper (600+) on it with glue and slightly scrape off the rust. Of course, this could lead to simulating lock wear and the liner lock would probably travel farther to the right.

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Chang the Asian Janitorial Apparatus

[This message has been edited by Comrade Chang (edited 09-03-2000).]

 

[Full Tang Clan]

Whoa Crayola, don't panic. You don't want your colors to run.

All is not lost. Is it light surface oxidation, or heavy "eating at the steel" oxidation?

If it is only light surface rust specks: First put away that sandpaper! Why scratch up your blade if it's not necessary. You have a few options. Try a mild rust/lime/calcium remover available in your grocery, and hardware department in the household cleaning and detergent aisle. In Canada, there is a brand called CLR. Put some on a soft rag and buff the blade up.

Another option is Flitz polish. I found sample packs at my local chain retailer for knives for about 99 cents. Check 1stopknifeshop; they may have it. It will remove light oxidation and polish that sucker up good. I used it on my two year old SOG MagnaDot and it made the blade look better than new! If you can't find Flitz, I think Novus polish or even Brasso might work similarly.

If it's heavy oxidation, that is rust eating away at the steel, you should try to neutralize the rust. Go to your hardware, or automobile supply store and get some rust remover. This is different from the CLR stuff (described above) and is much more corrosive and may also stain steels. Therefore, I suggest you dilute it a little and use as directed.


[This message has been edited by Full Tang Clan (edited 09-03-2000).]

 

[bad4u]

There are excellent products available at hardware stores, such as Tarnite.

The active ingredient you want to see on the package is Oxalic Acid. Oxalic acid will chemically combine oxidation, with little or no polishing, sanding or grinding required.

I have a can of Tarnite (9 or 10 oz) which is probably a lifetiime supply.

Great stuff! Wash it off with hot water after oxidation-removal and oil the knife to prevent re-oxidation.

 

[Gollnick]

Just return the knife to Benchmade. For something like $5, they'll do the dirty work for you under their "LifeSharp" warranty.



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Man, this place is great. One straight-forward question, four answers, a lifetime's worth of advice. Where else can you find this kind of help!

 

[Crayola]

Thanks for the info so far. To clear a few things up, the rust is rather light. It is early enough not to need sanding. I figured a little steel wool would do the trick, but I NEVER thought of using CLR or Flitz!! I even have some Flitz on hand. Geez, sometimes I worry about myself! The rust is on the tang of the blade and I was curious as to how easy it would be to remove the blade and do the necessary work as it would be a little awkward to get at the whole affected area with the blade attached. Again I shall state for the record that this is for informational purposes only, as disassembly of the knife by myself would voud my warranty. I was just curious what a guy would do if he wanted to save a little bit of cash and time and whether removing the pivot screw would cause springs and thingamajigs to pop out beyond repair by said guy. Just wondering...

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"Come What May..."

 

[Walt Welch]

The disassembly of the BM 875 is quite straightforward. No springs or small parts will fly into low earth orbit. I have done about half a dozen of them. Some very attractive carbon fiber scales were offered for a short time a few years ago, and installing these required complete disassembly.

One warning on all of the BM's, but especially the BM 330 (Mel Pardue Gents' knife). If the screws seem hard to remove, they may have used green Loc Tite on them (all the 330's I have seen have had this done). This is the permanent Loc Tite which is applied to tightened fasteners (in other words, it seeps down into the threads when the fastener has already been tightened).

This green LT is nasty stuff. However, just take the tip of a hot soldering iron, and touch it to the screw for a second or so. This will soften the Loc-Tite and allow easy removal of the allen head screws.

Of course, you are on your own concerning warranty.

Walt

 

[Gollnick]

The green loctite is a "semi-permanent" product designed to be very strong, but still be removable for service just as you suggest, with heat. As I recall, you have to get it above about 250, which is well above what the ambient environment should be for most stuff. Well, a typical soldering iron is set for 700. So, a soldering iron works great for this.

The really nasty loctite is, as I recall, the purple stuff.



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Chuck
Balisongs -- because it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing!
http://www.balisongcollector.com