Short review : Rust Check

Cliff Stamp

BANNED
Joined
Oct 5, 1998
Messages
17,562
This is a product used on cars to prevent rusting as well as provide lubrication. The description is very strong, "heavy duty", "wear resistant coating", etc. . I figured that it might make for a decent protectant on heavy use knives.

I coated an 18" Barteaux machete with Rust Check and left it 24 hours to dry. It didn't say to do this, I just was busy the next day. It comes out in a thick spray almost foam like and when it dries there are patches of gel left over - not for use on folders or presentation blades obviously.

I took the machete and did 250 cuts into grasses and weeds (about the heaviest were 1-2 cm thick stalks) to put some wear on the coating. I then mixed up a solution of 2 cups of water and 1 tsp of table salt and covered the blade with it and left it out on the step to drip dry. As a control I did the same thing with the 12" Barteaux which Rust Check was not used on.

After 1/2 and hour no rust on either blade. After 1 hour nothing again, and salt water again applied. After 2 hours salt water was once more applied. This time however some rusting was evident. The 18" machete had about 30 small 1-2mm spots, the 12" had large 2-4 mm spots (only a few) and about 4 5mm large patches. The coated blades looked to be a little better but not what I would describe as a success by any means.

At three hours both blades had large patches of black rust along the edge bevels and patches of orange rust along the flats. I again applied the salt water.

Eight hours later (the next morning), both blades were covered in about 25% orange rust and there was little clean steel visible. The rusting was different though. On the 12" machete it was mainly little specks about .5 mm in diameter and larger spots where water drops had dried. On the 18" machete is was mainly streaks the full length of the blade.

In short, after some light work, the Rust Check coating didn't seem to offer any protection at all. I think I'll try this again with Marine Tuf-Cloth.

-Cliff

[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 07-13-2000).]
 
Hi Cliff,

If you haven't used Tuf-Cloth in the past (and I'm sure you know its reputation), it is a fantastic product. SOG has done unofficial in-house testing. The results were amazing.

One of the tests we did was to take an older Tigershark (no gray powder coating) with SK-5 carbon steel. We coated one side with Marine Tuf-Cloth. The other side was either bare or coated with conventional oil. It was put in a salt water concentrate (for quicker results).

The Tuf-Cloth side was almost rust free (some spots). The other side was totally rusted over (100%).

My personal opinion is...Nothing's better! And my personal knives are all treated with it.

Ron@SOG

------------------
Website: www.sogknives.com
Email: ron@sogknives.com

[This message has been edited by Ron@SOG (edited 07-14-2000).]
 
I think it would be interesting to coat with the tuff cloth, go out and do equivilent cutting and then leave to elements to see if usage after coating makes a difference.

sing

AKTI #A000356
 
Ron, I have done similar with Marine Tuf-Cloth, and seen no rust for weeks while an unprotected part goes completely orange.

As an update, I took the Busse Battle Mistress and coated parts of it with Rust Check, Marine Tuf-Cloth, WD-40,oil and left one part bare (different arrangements on both sides). I left the coatings dry overnight and the next morning did the 250 cuts on weeds and covered the blade with the same salt water solution.

When the blade was checked 6 hours later there was significant rusting and it was the same pattern on both sides. The tip which saw the most use had large 2-3mm orange spots which gradually became 1 mm specs as they progressed up the blade. The blade had the same rust pattern on both sides which means it ignored the coatings all together.

It seems that it is not overly difficult to remove the coatings at all. Maybe the Lee Valley one will actually be a bit durable.

-Cliff
 
Bummer, it does seem to prevent rusting in my car.

I use Rust Check and Krown on my knives and I can see it scraped onto wood after the first few chops. I apply Rust Check after use since I can not smell or see any sign of it on the blade after use.

I doubt this would help but rubbing (to aid dispersion) it on might give better protection than just spraying it on. I don't know how well the active ingredient gets dispersed by the spray.

Will

 
That is a good point Will, I'll try this weekend to see if working it in will make any difference after a really heavy spraying.

-Cliff
 
I applied the Rust Check and used a small sponge to spread it around. I repeated this once more and then put on a final heavy coat. The blade now looked like this :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/barteaux_rust_check_initial.jpg

After 250 chops I covered the blade with the salt water solution. After 4 hours it showed light rusting in patches about 2-3 mm in size along the length of the blade. After 13 hours it looked like this :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/barteaux_rust_check_final_back.jpg


http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/barteaux_rust_check_final_front.jpg

The marked out black spot is where the Rust Check had been applied and it looks to be to offer no protection from abrasion due to light use.

-Cliff


[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 07-31-2000).]
 
Cliff,

Do you know if it protects against rust in salt water enviroment at all (applied but with no use)? I know it is pretty easy to wash off a knife before food preperation.

Will
 
Applying the Rust Check, soaking it in salt water and checking 12 hours later (it had been raining for a few hours) showed rusting along the blade in several places. The coated area however was rust free and in fact the rain had not removed the heavy coating which I assume would need to be done in order to see any rusting.

Note, I replaced the above pictures with ones that more clearly showed the rusting in the 250 chop test.

-Cliff
 
Thanks for doing the test Cliff. I guess Rust Check is a good thing for my car. Is the Rust Check you use brown?

Will
 
It is very good if not abraded. After two days the blade looks like this :

http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sstamp/images/barteaux_rusted_no_work_day_2.jpg

The coating left behind is about 1mm deep I would estimate. It has been raining steadily for the last couple of days.

There are two versions of Rust Check, the one I have been using is the thicker one called Coat and Protect which is supposed to be used for exposed surfaces.

-Cliff


[This message has been edited by Cliff Stamp (edited 08-03-2000).]
 
Cliff, have you ever tried just covering a blade with auto wax (the same type of wax on veggies in the stores...carnuba)and seeing how it stands up to weather. I used to wax my arrow shafts and they zip into targets and are easy to remove too.
biggrin.gif


------------------
Ron,
Now Thets-A-Noif Shop
Bremerton, Washington
 
Back
Top