Rust? Solution? Thank you for helping

[Li Cai]

Hey guys, got a knife I love a lot and the knife itself is in very good condition but the blade has some surface "rust" or whatever that is that couldn't be removed.

I tried magic eraser, WD-40 soak and wipe, then high grit 3M sand paper (9 micron, 3 micron, 2 micron, 1 micron), then finally tried Flitz paste rubbing with micro fiber. These rusts seem tough. Please see pic before and after. Can I get some help identifying these and/or a solution? I contacted Steve for a spa too and waiting for his reply.

Before:

https://imgur.com/a/6ujcse5

After:

https://imgur.com/a/auU0BwB

 

[Danke42]

When that skull etching is gone, all the rust should be gone too.

 

[Li Cai]

When that skull etching is gone, all the rust should be gone too.

You mean I am not rubbing hard/long enough? lol

 

[King of the Cheese]

You might need a dremel with a polishing wheel with that Flitz. Sometimes the rust is stubborn.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

There is no rust there. What you see is pitting left by the rust. Flitz and a Dremel won't touch that.
If you want to remove it, you will have to sand the blade down below the bottom of the pits.

 

[King of the Cheese]

There is no rust there. What you see is pitting left by the rust. Flitz and a Dremel won't touch that.
If you want to remove it, you will have to sand the blade down below the bottom of the pits.

So why wouldn’t you suggest he at least try? Just jump right to “all hope is lost, better sand the blade”?

OP, try the dremel and flitz first, then we can see.

 

[Guy McVer]

So it started out brown and ended up kinda white looking, huh?

Do you think maybe you actually did get rid of the rust and what you're looking at now is the pitting from where the rust used to be?

Do you have something you can use as a magnifying lens to get a closer look?

 

[Li Cai]

So it started out brown and ended up kinda white looking, huh?

Do you think maybe you actually did get rid of the rust and what you're looking at now is the pitting from where the rust used to be?

Do you have something you can use as a magnifying lens to get a closer look?

That makes sense! I will use a magnifying glass to check. That does sound about right though. It seems the sand paper or flitz doesn’t touch that. And yes it was kind of darker color now it’s shiny color

 

[777 Edge]

You seem to have some deeper pitting too, not just superficial rust. If you clean it up and treat it your rust protection product of choice, it should be good to go. The pitting will be visible but it won't affect the performance of your knife, just add a little bit of character.

If you really want to "hide" it as much as possible without a lot of metal removal, then you could always acid etch and stonewash your blade. Be aware though, it will mostly remove your skull etch label too. If you very carefully paint a the label with nail polish before acid etching, then you should be able to keep the skull etch label, but it will have a area of un-etched steel around and inside of it. If you spend a lot of time and paint just the skull (inside and out), and just about fraction past the exterior lines, you may end up getting a pretty cool looking un-etched silver skull on a stonewashed blade, that might actually look pretty interesting.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

"So why wouldn’t you suggest he at least try? Just jump right to “all hope is lost, better sand the blade”?

OP, try the dremel and flitz first, then we can see."

Well, it might be because I restore knives professionally and I recognize pitting when I see it.
And, because I know what Flitz and a Dremel will and will not do. You, apparently don't.

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

The pitting is deep enough that some pretty extreme sanding or a regrind via 'spa' treatment will need to be done to remove it, per Bill's advice earlier. The polishing paste (Flitz) won't fix that, but will only polish the pits and surrounding steel to a brighter finish, without removing them.

BUT, it's just pitting - there's no red/brown active rust that I can see. And by itself, the pitting won't do any additional harm to the steel. If the knife is to be a user anyway, I'd not worry about it.

 

[kreisler]

in theory the pitting can be removed with sandpaper

Li Cai in practice i doht believe that you will be able to remove the pitting with sandpaper . i am challenging you .

 

[Li Cai]

in theory the pitting can be removed with sandpaper

Li Cai in practice i doht believe that you will be able to remove the pitting with sandpaper . i am challenging you .

Haha I mean I could but I don’t want to ruin the blade lol probably will send it to the maker it took me long to find this model

 

[The Grendels]

I always keep a can of Ballistol on hand, in case I'm given a restoration project or someone leaves one of my tools outside overnight in the rain (or several overnights out in the rain). Give it a spray, localized to the rust if you want to save your etching, and leave it on overnight. Clean it off the next day and repeat a couple of times. You really need to let the Ballistol soak in on some jobs.