Weird marks on a new blade (aka Sometimes I hate being the "Knife guy")

E

Elen

Joined
Apr 10, 2007
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2,767
All right, time for some more crappy - and that's an understatement -photography. :D Friend of mine asked me to sharpen his new knife because he seems to think I can make it sharper than the factory edge (okay, that's probably true). And then he showed me some funny-looking marks he'd noticed on the blade and asked me if I could tell what they were. The photos are supposed to show the marks, but, well... the camera sucks, or I suck, or both.

Anyways, you can't really tell it from the pictures, but on one side (and only one side) of the blade there are some weird small marks. Some of them can only be seen from a certain direction in a certain light, but the one in the second picture is larger and readily visible, and looks like a small dent. These don't look like just scratches to me, more like small and not very deep "pits" in the blade. I haven't seen anything exactly like this before though. It's a polished stainless steel knife, and as far as I know it hasn't been used to do anything much. I'm not sure if they're just some random marks left over on the blade by the manufacturer in grinding or polishing the blade, or if they're actual corrosion pits. The marks appear to have a healthy steel color, so it doesn't look like rust pitting to me, but heck, what do I know? :D Maybe it's just bad fit and finish by the manufacturer?

What do you guys think?

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/5404/mark1xs8.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6696/mark2jb2.jpg

P.S. Yes, you can slap me for the awful photography. I've rightly earned that fate! :p
 
Can't say for sure,but I have had several well polished blades that had a slight dent or imperfection in them.If I spent a ton of money on the knife it might bother me,but the ones I've seen it on were inexpensive enough that It didn't bother me.
 
This thread is useless without photos.:p :D

Actually I have had the same experience as Lotoblades, especially on throwers or beaters made of 420J. It should have no effect on the usefulness of the blade.
 
it looks kind of like a "frosty" spot, maybe where the blade didn't get polished quite enough during manufacturing.
 
Could they bee the marks from a rockwel hardness test? Small dimples.
 
NOT hardness tester marks . Look like pits that weren't polished out.
 
Yeah, I was thinking they might be just imperfections left by the manufacturer, but didn't want to tell my friend that before making sure he wasn't sold a blade with cute little rust pits in it. :(

65535 said:
Maybe contamination inside the sheath?
Click to expand...

I suppose it could be that. But I was told it was a brand new knife (and it certainly didn't look used...), and since it's stainless steel, I'd be surprised if it corroded that fast. But who knows?
 
I meant that grit that damaged the blade was in the sheath, but usually that causes scratches. If they are soft edged and polished feeling/looking then they are probably pits that never got polished out.
 
Oh, I see. :) They do look kind of soft-edged and rounded. And they're not large enough for me to actually feel them when touching the blade. Go figure, huh? :confused:
 
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