Vinegar etch & aggressive pitting

[Marshall_Forge]

Hi all. I recently left a blade in a tub of straight vinegar to soften up the scaling from heat treat before hand sanding. This is standard protocol as far as my builds go. Admittedly, I left it in there longer than I normally would. Life happens sometimes. Got distracted. I left it in there for a solid...3 days having started hand sanding. There is SERIOUS pitting. The nice distal tapered tip I ground in even dissolved off. About 1/8 inch. Question is, will this effect my heat treat at all or corrosion resistance/over all finish or longevity of the blade.

Blade is 15n20 fully heat treated and tempered.

 

[shane45-1911]

Damn - sorry to hear that.

Excessive heat destroys heat treatment, not corrosion. And depending on how deep your vinegar "patina" is, you may wish to resurface it as any deep pitting will indeed be a moisture trap and lead to further corrosion.

 

[Marshall_Forge]

Thanks for the gracious response despite the stupid heat treat question..after further review I realized it was in there just shy of a week If I don't do anything with it, I can at least sell it as a piece of metallic moon rock..it's that bad of a "patina"

 

[Stickgunner]

If you are selling blades, sell it as a blem. If not, check the "lesson learned" block and don't sweat it.