Rusted VG-10 HELP!!!

O

Ohin3

Joined
Jun 20, 2013
Messages
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I bought a Spyderco Stretch a couple years ago and that was the knife that got me obsessed with well made knives. About 8 months after I bought the stretch it went missing. I lamented it's loss and drowned my sorrows by buying more spydercos ha ha ha. Anyways, during some recent basement renos, my electrician found my stretch. I was elated but sad to see that the VG-10 had developed rust. What i want to know is what i can do about the rust. I have never tried to remove rust from stainless and I dont know how bad it is or if its beyond fixing or what I can do. I am new here and not sure how to add photos to the site so that I can post them and show the rust I am talking about so any help with that would be greatly appreciated as well. thanks for your help all.

Cheers.

P.
 
I'd give Spyderco a call and ask them how much it would cost to give it a makeover. Who knows, they might do it for free.
 
How bad is the rust? I'd try and clean it up myself. Douse the rust with WD-40 and let it sit. Then take a pencil and scribble the rust spots, they should flake off if it isn't terribly bad. If that doesn't work head to Wally Mart and go to the automotive section. Somewhere around the paint stuff they should have a rust pencil. It's basically just very fine fiberglass rods tightly bound that retract into a pencil like object. Scrub in a circular pattern over rust. WEAR EYE PROTECTION AND A MASK! And do NOT use indoors unless you want tiny fiberglass splinters everywhere. It will leave polish marks but should eat up the rust.
 
Bah it's a knife not the quarter panel on your Audi A7. The scrubber side of a sponge can get basic rust off and if not steel wool as Dan said.
 
I always end up putting a sandpaper hand rubbed satin finish on my older used knives due to scratches and marks. I say do it yourself as it probably isn't all that bad. Pitting that's deep is a problem but regular surface stuff isn't a big thing. I actually enjoy my renovation projects and will often pick up old knives with little value just to fix up. I usually just give them away afterwards.

Try the least first, moving on up to more, or deeper sanding as needed. Sometimes just a bit of polish does the trick though.

Joe
 
If it's not pitted much, or at all (noticeably), some scrubbing with Flitz/Simichrome polishing paste will get rid of the 'red' rust on the surface. If there are some dark black/grey spots left behind, those won't harm your blade any further. You can work most of that out with additional 'elbow grease', using the polishing paste, if you wish to do so.

If the blade is deeply pitted, sanding with wet/dry sandpaper will be necessary. So long as there's no red rust left in the pits, it's not necessary to remove them anyway. Just a cosmetic issue at that point. If the knife is a user, I'd just leave it be, and keep the blade clean & dry from here on.


David
 
After the WD40, or oil-soak of your choice, you may also try wadding up a bit of tinfoil. IIRC, the dull side to the outside, and scrub away. Used it to remove even light speckle-pitting on chrome bumpers.
 
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