Rusting of BRKT A-2

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safetyman

safetyman

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This past Thanksgiving weekend I was using my Bark River Gameskeeper to do some food preparation in the kitchen. Well, I was cutting some imitation crab meat for my famous stuffed mushrooms and within about 5 minutes there were visible spots of rust that had formed on the blade. I have since buffed them out but that whole ordeal really left me wondering how the heck a blade can rust so quick!?! Honestly, the blade showed no signs of rust before I started the preparation, and there is no way I could have not noticed they were there before I started. I didn't know any steel could be so prone to rusting. Okay I'll take a step back, maybe those spots weren't rust; but if they weren't what could they have been? Sorry I don't have any pictures to post but any info on similar incidences would be helpful...I don't want to have to worry about my blade rusting out if I were on some trip and had to cook some food.
 
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That is a patina forming on the blade. A2 is a tool steel and this is natural. You could clean it up after each use with some elbow grease, but why bother. It will acually protect the blade from pitting rust. Check out this link as well
 
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The word "rust" imagines -red rust- to me, which is aggressive and should be avoided.

The black or gray patina ist rust in the meaning of oxidation too but it is positive.

So, if you say "rusts in 5 minutes", well, even my C75 (pure carbon, no chromium) wouldn´t "rust" in 5 minutes.:) I tried, to show my wife how to care for knives, after quarter of an hour, nothing, but gray patina.:D

But they get dark spots as soon as the get in contact with sour media.

The patina really is a protection for the blade and the food too. Ever noticed an iron taste on food, cutted with non - stainless blades? Gets less with the growing patina.

Keep it dry and clean and keep cutting. That was all i ever needed to protect my "rusting blades".
 
A drop of mineral oil on your fingertip carefully spread over that Gameskeeper blade will keep it new-looking. Some folks look forward to that growing 'patina' as character.

Stainz
 
I love patina on my blades. SOME people even spread mustard on the blades to give it patina more quickly. I like to work mine on!
 
My daughter left her A-2 steel mini-Canadian in its leather sheath for an extended period, probably several months, and came to me one day asking if her knife was "cheap". hehe Sure enough, this was beyond patina. There were some rust spots and pitting that are still present today because I couldn't get them out. A2 is a carbon tool steel and will rust, but it takes awhile as others have said.

I like a forced patina too. I wish I had a shot of my O1 EnZo which came out really nice, but all I have available right now is this Mora. The patina on this one was forced with apple vinegar.
Mora-Patina-04.jpg

MoraPatinas-01.jpg
 
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As the others have mentioned, if it was red, it was rust - if it was dark grey, it was patina. Rust is harmful, but a good patina over teh whole blade acts as a minor rust preventative.

However -

You mentioned that you were cutting fake crab, right?

I'm pretty sure there is a high sodium/salt content in fake crab (surimi?), which, since that stuff is pretty moist, would be a very salty solution.

Very salty water plus high carbon tool steel equals rust pretty darn quick!
 
Grampa said:
You mentioned that you were cutting fake crab, right?

I'm pretty sure there is a high sodium/salt content in fake crab (surimi?), which, since that stuff is pretty moist, would be a very salty solution.

Very salty water plus high carbon tool steel equals rust pretty darn quick!
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking that too Grampa. I knew it probably had something to do with the sodium content of that stuff.

And thanks guys for explaining what most likely went on here even though there were no pictures. Next time I will definitely get some pics as evidence and I won't freak out the next time it happens...'cause I don't think this would be the one and only time.
 
Getting a patina on carbon steels takes a bit of time and supervision but it looks very nice(next time you prep food try slicing shallots or any of the onion family,the blade gets a blue violet tinge)or you can clean and polish them constantly(not feasible on a long trek..)

I tend to avoid using carbon knives in food prep for raw eating because of the metallic taste it imparts to fruit especially, I dislike it. So, get yourself a stainless BRKT they are just as good as the A2 knives I think and you won't have the cleaning chores or fear of sudden tough rust spots:eek:

Whilst we're on it, I like both carbons and the various stainless but I see little point in D2 personally. It's a challenge to sharpen, can get 'toothy' as well and it develops no decent patina like carbon but goes all spotty and ugly unlike stainless(conventional ones).It looks kind of odd when polished as it seems to have a citrus peel appearance:thumbdn: I know a lot of people favour it though and good luck to them.
 
safetyman said:
This past Thanksgiving weekend I was using my Bark River Gameskeeper to do some food preparation in the kitchen. Well, I was cutting some imitation crab meat for my famous stuffed mushrooms and within about 5 minutes there were visible spots of rust that had formed on the blade. I have since buffed them out but that whole ordeal really left me wondering how the heck a blade can rust so quick!?! Honestly, the blade showed no signs of rust before I started the preparation, and there is no way I could have not noticed they were there before I started. I didn't know any steel could be so prone to rusting. Okay I'll take a step back, maybe those spots weren't rust; but if they weren't what could they have been? Sorry I don't have any pictures to post but any info on similar incidences would be helpful...I don't want to have to worry about my blade rusting out if I were on some trip and had to cook some food.
Click to expand...

On my Barkies my friend polish blades and I NEVER have problem with rust!!!
NEVER! I love BRKT knives and love him a lot - great hunting and outdoor knife with outstanding hold of edge!
 
purposeful patina can be fun, left an Opinel in some Coke for a half hour, let it rest for a few minutes, then wiped off the excess with wet paper towel. Doesn't look too shabby. Probably wouldn't do that to a Barkie though.
 
Here's my Benchmade 140HS.

IMG_7051.jpg


IMG_7054.jpg


Yes I know the blade is horribly modified, and the tip has been broken off several times.
After I stripped the coating off and used it enough to figure out that it doen't make a good camp knife, it was used as a work knife for a few years, cutting branches, scraping bailer twine off lawnmowers, etc...
Anyway, that blade seldom gets any treatment, just a wipe to keep it dry and that's it. Back in 04 I gave it a good soaking in vinegar to start the patina (also used layers of wax for patterning, some of which is still visible), and it has darkened over the years. That as opposed to my 710HS which I also rubbed the coating off of but didn't give it a patina. It sat in a ziplock bag, and sitll managed to turn fuzzy orange (it now has a good layer of oil).

If a knife isn't going to sit covered in oil I would suggest putting a good patina on it.

Edit: the blade was polished pretty well before applying the patina, a high polish will also help keep rust away. Bead blasting is the worst.
 
I had a barkie rust up once - pulled it out of its sheath one day and a fuzzy coat of rust all over the blade.

still not sure what happened - but i can guess. there appeared to be water damage to the leather sheath - so what I think is that I set down a pint of beer in a glass on my desk and my barkie happened to be on my desk too and the sheath touched the glass while water condensed on it. the sheath got wet - and, voila, rust!

but i'm guessing what happened to you is patina. rust just doesn't happen that quickly. patina is almost instantaneous. slice a lemon with a carbon steel blade and it'll change color in a minute or two.

i did get the rust of that barkie - and i still think beer and knives go together... :D
 
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