Rust!!! What to do?

L

learnme

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Oct 30, 2009
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Hi all! Once again I am back on my favorite forum, and once again lookin for some help. Basically, I have been in and out of both salt and fresh water with my knife. After every situation, I rinse off the knife with tap water and pat dry. i have not used any oils etc on my knife mainly because I have no idea if i should. Lately though there are some rust spots on my knife that i cant wipe off like the others.

I own a Falkniven F1 3G. I LOVE this knife. The carbon content in the blade makes it quick to rust in salt water... All it needs is a quick dip then a few minutes later rust spots start to form.

If anyone has any experience with this I wold like to hear from you. Any other advice regarding oils etc is also welcome. lastly, if any one knows of a better way to get rid of the rust other than sand paper, please let me know.

Thanx and all the best
 
almost any knife will rust immediatly in salt water, i usually use wd-40 and some steel wool but that does leave some scratches :D
 
There's a product, called 'Bar Keepers Friend', that can usually be found in the kitchen/household cleansers section at the grocery store. It comes in either a powder form (like Comet or Ajax), or in a liquid form.

What's different about it, is that it uses a chemical reaction (oxalic acid) to do the cleaning. It works great for removing rust stains on kitchenware. I've also used it to remove rust stains on stoneware/china (plates left in a wet sink with flatware laying on them). And it also works great to remove metal filings from ceramic sharpening stones.

The powder form should be mixed with a little bit of water to make a paste. Use a small glass dish for this. Then use a rag or a Q-tip to apply a little bit of the paste to the rust spot. Just a little bit of rubbing will chemically remove the rust stain. Rinse the paste off with water. Don't need to 'sand' it with sandpaper or any other abrasive product. The advantage in that is obvious; no scratches left over from the scrubbing.

You do need to carefully read the instructions on the label. Some surfaces can be damaged by the oxalic acid in it. Here is a link to the maker's site, for some usage tips:

http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/cleaning.html

21ozBarKeepersFriend.jpg


After cleaning & drying, make sure to protect the blade with oil or other rust preventive.
 
Most metal polish would do the trick. Whatever you use for stropping, if you do so.
 
If you're doing a lot of salt water exposure, try MARINE TUF-CLOTH. If not, the regular Tuf-Glide will help prevent corrosion/oxidation. The ideas of using Flitz or Bar Keeper's Friend for rust removal are good ones too. I think Flitz will remove the rust and then leaves a light coat of protectant? BTW, try and stay away from the more coarse abrasives, e.g. sandpaper. I think additional scratching of the blade surface will be detrimental. Good luck!
 
richard thurman said:
and that is why i like the rust erasor. no scratch marks and it is so simple to use.
Click to expand...

You referring to this?

RTZ-EB.jpg

If so, it IS VERY ABRASIVE. It'll alter the finish of the blade (leaves a somewhat 'satin' finish). If the blade is already satin finished and/or marred, maybe that's not a big deal. It'll really change the look of a polished blade though.

This is the warning on A.G. Russell's site, regarding Rust Eraser:

"WE DO NOT RECOMMEND IT FOR REMOVING RUST FROM KNIVES. May cause dullness or scratch highly polished surfaces. "
 
The only thing you need to remove all the rust completely is to leave the blade in a jar of water with citric acid (or just squeeze a bunch of lemons). It will turn black, but wash the excess off with some soap and water and a brush, for instance. After that you'll wanna dry the blade immediately, because otherwise it will start to show signs of rust from the mere exposure to the humidity in the air! If you want to give it a nice patina, let the blade stand in a jar of vinegar or just simply smear some mustard across the entire surface and let it dry. Then wash the mustard or vinegar off and dry. After this you will want to apply a bit of lubrication, such as lip balm or WD-40 or whatever. Anything fat will do. Then dry it off and you'll have a very rust resistant carbon steel blade (although not at all shiny).
 
stoffi said:
The only thing you need to remove all the rust completely is to leave the blade in a jar of water with citric acid (or just squeeze a bunch of lemons). It will turn black, but wash the excess off with some soap and water and a brush, for instance. After that you'll wanna dry the blade immediately, because otherwise it will start to show signs of rust from the mere exposure to the humidity in the air! If you want to give it a nice patina, let the blade stand in a jar of vinegar or just simply smear some mustard across the entire surface and let it dry. Then wash the mustard or vinegar off and dry. After this you will want to apply a bit of lubrication, such as lip balm or WD-40 or whatever. Anything fat will do. Then dry it off and you'll have a very rust resistant carbon steel blade (although not at all shiny).
Click to expand...
I stick the blade into a large lemon (or 2 for the H1), and leave it overnight. You can use a potato or apple or tomato also. The smell of vinegar makes me :barf:. That's the first time I've been able to use that particular emoticon.... :D
 
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