Steels that withstand rust

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badJuJoo

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Mar 24, 2011
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this is my first post here and i hope you guys help me out, i have a couple different knives in different steels, Kershaw's Sandvik 14C28N, Sandvik 13C26, Spyderco's VG-10, Cold Steels's Aus-8a, and all have gotten rust spots on them. i have a couple other knives but they have black blade coatings and not sure if that is why i havnt seen any on them. the only non coated blade knife i own that has not gotten some form of rust on it is a SAK. i live in FL only an hour away from the ocean, and it gets hot down here and i sometimes sweat alot when working outdoors... so im looking for some knife steels that have better rust resistance. i have been looking at Spyderco's H-1 but none of the models really do it for me from the pictures i saw online. what are some other production companys and blade steels that go good around salt.

i should also add that im not willing to go over $200 ona knife


thanks and i look foward to reading your suggestions and advice:thumbup:
 
Benchmade has a couple of knives that are supposed to resist rust, the H20's.
 
S30V has much improved corrosion resistance over 440C and 154CM, and should be better than any of the steels you listed in terms of stain resistance. You can take it a bit further with Elmax, and I believe the Kershaw Speedform II offers the steel at a reasonable price.
 
try getting a new coat on the knives you already have, the bead blasting that kershaw does along with the 13c26n and 14c28n make them pretty rust prone IMO, give them a satin or stone wash finish and you will see a large difference
 
Have you tried keeping your knives oiled regularly? I've heard a lot of folks say that Rem oil and Tuf-Cloth are both great for keeping rust at bay - something like that might be an easier fix to your solution. :thumbup:

Hope that helps.
 
badJuJoo said:
...im looking for some knife steels that have better rust resistance. i have been looking at Spyderco's H-1 but none of the models really do it for me from the pictures i saw online. what are some other production companys and blade steels that go good around salt.
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A high molybdenum steel which leaves enough free(non-carbide forming) to fend off chloride corrosion will be your best bet around salts; except for H-1. It's the chlorides in salts(and blood, and cellular fluids, etc.) which do the damage.
 
badJuJoo said:
this is my first post here and i hope you guys help me out, i have a couple different knives in different steels, Kershaw's Sandvik 14C28N, Sandvik 13C26, Spyderco's VG-10, Cold Steels's Aus-8a, and all have gotten rust spots on them. i have a couple other knives but they have black blade coatings and not sure if that is why i havnt seen any on them. the only non coated blade knife i own that has not gotten some form of rust on it is a SAK. i live in FL only an hour away from the ocean, and it gets hot down here and i sometimes sweat alot when working outdoors... so im looking for some knife steels that have better rust resistance. i have been looking at Spyderco's H-1 but none of the models really do it for me from the pictures i saw online. what are some other production companys and blade steels that go good around salt.

i should also add that im not willing to go over $200 ona knife


thanks and i look foward to reading your suggestions and advice:thumbup:
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It would help if you tell us what type of knife you're looking for and what you use plan on using it for.
 
RevDevil said:
Spyderco H1 is corrosion resistant as well.
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Nearly corrosion proof! The only H1 blade I've ever seen corroded at all was one deliberately left overnight in a bucket of chlorine, and it just got a weird acid-etched finish. :p
 
thanks everybody, i do clean and oil my knives, but probly only once a month if i have been using it, and i only been using 3 in 1 oil

my uses of the knife are pretty basic, i use it to open stuff, cut stuff... i dunno at work i use it to open packages and cut rubber hoses and whatnot, my mother works at a private horse stable and i venture down to help sometimes, cutting bailing twine, i sometimes lightly pry, and slide between two materials to free them (like two pieces of wood caulked together) i like a blade of around 3-4 inches, no blade shape is really my favorite, obviously i would not pry or abuse on a thin bladed knife, i do not care for combo edges tho.


i use a sharpmaker to sharpen them, how does S30V, H-1, and Elmax compare on ease of sharpening?


once again thanks everybody for your great input


ETA: i think i read a couple posts on here that compared h-1 to aus-8a in sharpening
 
H-1 is super easy to sharpen, and takes a very aggressive "sticky" edge I can best describe as "meat cutting." It may not hold an edge as well as S30V or Elmax (it's edge retention is more comparable to well-done AUS-8) but it sharpens up quickly and the resultant edge is probably the scariest out of any steel I've tried. :eek:
 
If you are interested, Benchmade and Spyderco have good references about their blade steels: http://www.benchmade.com/about_knives/our_blades.asp and http://www.spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=3
Because most knifes will be made out of these metals the info can easily be referenced against other manufacturers.
Personally though, I'd recommend something from Spyderco's "marine" lineup if corrosion is your main concern.. Most of these are made form H-1 which Spyderco assures "will not rust"

~EO
 
FortyTwoBlades said:
Nearly corrosion proof! The only H1 blade I've ever seen corroded at all was one deliberately left overnight in a bucket of chlorine, and it just got a weird acid-etched finish. :p
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I remember that thread too. That knife looked like it was eaten, digested, and excreted by a dinosaur, lol :D
 
I think a spyderco pacific salt would suit you well. You might not like the look, but spyderco's are comfortable in hand.

If you really don't want a spyderco, buck's 420hc should work pretty well for you. The buck vantage select large would be a good option.
 
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RevDevil said:
I remember that thread too. That knife looked like it was eaten, digested, and excreted by a dinosaur, lol :D
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I'm pretty sure he was kidding about the bucket of chlorine and had actually stabbed an "Alien" with it. It sure looked ugly, but the thing would still cut! Any other stainless knife would have been turned into red water by that treatment. :eek:
 
CrimsonTideShooter said:
H-1 is rust proof. There is no iron to oxidize. It's nitrogen based.

ETA: Rust proof, not corrosion proof. All rust is corrosion, but not all corrosion is rust.
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I'm pretty sure it's got iron in it...it has virtually no carbon though. The higher the carbon content, the easier it is to heat treat to high hardness, but the greater its susceptibility to corrosion.

It has to have iron in it in order to be advertised as steel. Last I knew, H1 was considered a low-carbon modified tool steel with high chromium content and the addition of nitrogen. The virtually non-existent carbon content is part o f the reason it's corrosion resistant but makes heat treatment a useless means of hardening. My understanding (not perfect!) is the nitrogen further bolsters corrosion resistance and also increases its ability to work harden. Rather than being heat treated, the grinding process work-hardens the steel, which is why you don't see H1 in a full flat grind. The blade has to be ground from both sides at the same time in order to be economically feasible as a production item, and there's no such thing as a machine that can flat grind both sides of a blade at the same time! :p
 
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CrimsonTideShooter said:
H-1 is rust proof. There is no iron to oxidize. It's nitrogen based.

ETA: Rust proof, not corrosion proof. All rust is corrosion, but not all corrosion is rust.
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Of course it has iron. What the nitrogen replaces is carbon. Iron plus carbon is steel, and it's the carbon that leads to oxidation, but H-1 has minimal carbon, maybe 10% the carbon of ordinary steels. See Spycerco's chart: http://www.spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=3
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Of course it has iron. What the nitrogen replaces is carbon. Iron plus carbon is steel, and it's the carbon that leads to oxidation, but H-1 has minimal carbon, maybe 10% the carbon of ordinary steels. See Spycerco's chart: http://www.spyderco.com/edge-u-cation/index.php?item=3
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I messed up my words. Meant carbon. Thanks!

Anyway, it's supposed to be rust proof. But I'm sure there's something out there that can eat away at it.
 
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