S30V question

[USAFSP]

So who here has been able to make S30V rust and under what conditions? I have always taken care of my blades, wiping them down every now and then. So what if I just wash S30V with water and then dry it and not oil it? It just seems that none of my S30V knives ever develope rust, even after getting wet and then just sitting for a little while. We are talking about uncoated blades here. Either bead blasted or satin finish.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

I did a bunch of soaks on a few blades awhile back, it will rust readily in a salt water solution, however the pitting is mild :

That is after a 16 soak, details can be seen in the review.

-Cliff

 

[STR]

I've bought a couple that when opened had surface rust on them. These were Spyderco Dodos both times and the rust was on the spine of the blade and the ball lock holder also on the spine. This rubbed right off using one of those rust erasers. I am not sure how it got there. Perhaps where they were stored before they got shipped to me. It was only superficial though and never returned while I had them.

STR

 

[USAFSP]

Cliff can you link me to your review? If so thanks in advance.

 

[Cliff Stamp]

Here is the corrosion soaking part specifically :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/knives/small_sebenza.html#corrosion_resistance

-Cliff

 

[Jay_Wyatt]

Thanks again Cliff. Very good reading info.

 

[barrabas74]

I had a Lone Wolf T2 rust and a sebbie rust while fishing, i was wading through a streat in the patomac and both showed signs of surface rust by the end of the day.

 

[jemelby]

Lone Wolf Vallomatic:

Purchased in good shape. Playled with for an hour or so. Put back in box. Box put in closet. Forgotten for 1-2 months. Traded (here on BF) for another knife. New owner reported spot rust on side of blade.

I didn't inspect the knife befor I sent it, and he was able to get a replacement from Lone Wolf.

S30V shouldn't rust with modest care.

 

[thombrogan]

I reprofiled my Spyderco Yojimbo with a 120 grit waterstone and it rusted where the surface was left at that finish. Easy to clean up, though, and a higher-grit refinish corrected that issue.

 

[Knife Outlet]

I've found S30V to be more corrosion resistant than most of the high end cutlery steels including VG-10 and 154CM. Any stainless will rust or corrode if you work at it (as Cliff has demonstrated) but S30V is quite good in that regard.

 

[lambertiana]

My son's Buck Mayo showed some very light spots that came out really easily with some buffing compound. I carry my Mayo a lot more than he does, and have yet to see anything like that. Likewise with my Para, Native, and mini-Ritter, no signs of spotting yet.

On a similar note, I have seen some spotting on an older BM AFCK in ATS-34, as well as an AUS-8 Moki that I carried in a summer rainstorm.

 

[HoB]

I think it depends very much on the finish which is supported by the reports here. S30V has a pretty high corrosion potential, so finished to the same degree as other steels like ATS-34 or VG-10, it should outperform them. The trick is only that S30V is usually not finished to the same degree as said steels.