Spots on new Helle knife - anything to worry about?

H

HikeNKnife

Joined
Oct 1, 2018
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2
Hello all,

First off, sorry if this is a silly question. I'm not really a knife person, besides using one once in a while. Anyway, I just bought a new Helle Fjellkniven to take hiking with me, and it has these little brownish dull spots at the base of the blade. Pics linked below. I can post some more if these aren't clear. I had cut one carrot before noticing these, but they didn't brush off with a toothbrush and some dish soap. Are these rust or any kind of harmful corrosion? Or just a normal product of the manufacturing process? If they're only cosmetic it's not a big deal, since my purpose with this is to take it outside, but if they're harmful to the blade then I'll probably try to take it back, unless the fix is very easy.

Thanks!

https://imgur.com/a/1nDXnNj
 
I don't see anything there warranting any worries. The Fjellkniven's blade is their triple-laminated stainless; it shouldn't have much, if any issues due to corrosion, especially when brand new. The spots might just be some embedded polishing swarf or dirty grit from final finishing or buffing of the blade.

Their laminated stainless has a harder core of high-carbon stainless steel for edge-holding, something similar in makeup to ~ 12C27 (pretty corrosion-resistant itself) or maybe even 13C26; it's there for taking & holding a sharp edge. And the outer cladding of the laminate is even more corrosion-resistant, an 18/8-grade stainless, which is there for toughness, also adding strength and corrosion-resistance, but quite a bit softer than the core steel.

If you want to, using a little bit of metal polish like Flitz or Simichrome, Mother's Mag, etc, might clean up the spots. Even then, I wouldn't worry about them. Use the knife & enjoy it. Those are pretty darned good blades. :thumbsup:
 
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I've owned the same Fjellkniven model from Helle for years. Great knife.

As David said, nothing to be alarmed about. Keep it clean, rub a little mineral oil on the blade and handle and you'll be in great shape for years to come.
 
Triple lami ated steel is great,i wish more manufacturers would use it,easy to sharpen and excellent edge holding.
 
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