White steel rusting?

P

Papa JB

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Jun 17, 2020
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Recently bought a couple of Japanese kitchen knives and one is made of white steel. Love the balance and how it cuts but the rust is ridiculous. Cut a tomato with it and a semicircle of rust formed. Get little rust spots if I don't dry it right after washing. My wife cut an onion and some peppers and there was rust immediately and some on the onion.

Did I get ripped off? I know white steel is prone to corrosion but this is ridiculous.

Think I will look into returning it regardless.
 
if I looked it up right Hitachi white steel.....seems like it has 1.3% carbon and a little bit of mn, si, s, and p nothing to help corrosion resistance. I expect it would rust and corrode as mentioned...but I've never owned or used it. sounds like a very high maintenance steel for special use.
 
Hitachi white paper steel is a high grade carbon steel that like any other carbon steel is prone to oxidation. Either you learn to use and clean it properly or learn to live with discoloration. Patina doesn't hurt anything and will form a protective layer on the blade that can greatly reduce the tendency to oxidize. If you want shiny buy a cheap stainless kitchen knife at Walmart. If you want a good knife that cuts really well, is tough and is easy to sharpen, keep the Hitachi blade.
 
Papa JB said:
Recently bought a couple of Japanese kitchen knives and one is made of white steel. Love the balance and how it cuts but the rust is ridiculous. Cut a tomato with it and a semicircle of rust formed. Get little rust spots if I don't dry it right after washing. My wife cut an onion and some peppers and there was rust immediately and some on the onion.

Did I get ripped off? I know white steel is prone to corrosion but this is ridiculous.

Think I will look into returning it regardless.
Click to expand...

What brand is this knife? My Masamoto White 2 knives will show rust if I use them and leave them on the dishrack in the time it takes to eat dinner.
So I wipe dry clean after use and before dinner. No problems.
White 2 knives will take a patina, and in Japanese households they typically look "grey/black" from use.

How much time between cutting a tomato or onion before the rust shows? If it's too much to deal with washing off and drying promptly
after use, I would suggest a Blue 2 Steel knife. These are just as good as White, but dio not show rust so quickly.
 
Sounds like the darn thing is faulty. I'm willing to test it further for you....I'll even pay the shipping.😁
 
Papa JB said:
Recently bought a couple of Japanese kitchen knives and one is made of white steel. Love the balance and how it cuts but the rust is ridiculous. Cut a tomato with it and a semicircle of rust formed. Get little rust spots if I don't dry it right after washing. My wife cut an onion and some peppers and there was rust immediately and some on the onion.

Did I get ripped off? I know white steel is prone to corrosion but this is ridiculous.

Think I will look into returning it regardless.
Click to expand...

White steel? It rusts like a banshee. High corrosion rate does not indicate that you got ripped off.

The higher the carbon content, the more prone to rust a steel is. Carbon is dissimilar to iron and forms a galvanic couple with it.
That's true even with "stainless steel" melt alloys. 440C contains more carbon than 440A. 440C is less resistant to corrosion than 440A.
 
I would imagine it's a trade off between the ability to take a smooth, fine, and steep edge that's still stable vs. high corrosion suceptibilty.

The Japanese take a lot of pride in their cutlery and culture. From my limited exposure they do not allow their knives to form a patina, as it is a sign of uncleanliness.
 
Meh. Use it, rinse it, dry it, repeat it.

This is my 0.75% carbon Sabatier after years of daily home use. Not one drop of oil on it. Just use it, rinse it, dry it, put it in the drawer until the next meal. The patina changes over time as I continue to use it.

https://imgur.com/T6Cyonf
 
MolokaiRider said:
I would imagine it's a trade off between the ability to take a smooth, fine, and steep edge that's still stable vs. high corrosion suceptibilty.

The Japanese take a lot of pride in their cutlery and culture. From my limited exposure they do not allow their knives to form a patina, as it is a sign of uncleanliness.
Click to expand...

You will never see a patina on a knife in any Restaurant or professional setting in Japan.
You will see patinas on knives in household kitchens. Not everyone in Japan is a cultery enthusiast. :)
 
Thanks for the responses.

I expected it to be high maintenance but didn't expect it to oxidize as I cut. Will just have to take care of it and let it get a patina.
 
White steel is very reactive, I make knives with it everyday, you cannot leave acidic substances on the blade orr leave water on it. Wipe it down, oil it if going into storage for duration. You did not get ripped off this is typical white steel reaction.
If you do not sharpen and polish your knives on a daily basis (white steel is the choice forr professionals who use and sharpen/polish it frequantlly.
You can force a patina, this will turn the entire blade a darker shade of grey. Once the patina has built up you are looking for black oxide / rust, not active red rust. Put the knife or keep wiping it down with lemon juice. Until it darkens. Then once you have got it to the colour you like. Rub it with sodium bicarb and rinse and dry it off.
Then your knife will not rust anymore, and it will just develop an advanced patina each time you cut acid foods and darken over time. This way only the very cutting edge will have a silver glint when sharpened, and that is the only tiny strip you have to polish now to maintain it, you can just leave the rest to darken up.
White steel needs very good care from it's owner, if this is your first Japanese carbon steel knife, you jumped in at the deep end, but if you learn how to take care of white steel, you will know how to take care of any carbon blade in future, as this is the most reactive type of carbon steel, it makes 1095 seem stainless.
 
If you use Japanese carbon steels, the advice from chefs is to keep a dry cloth and a wet cloth.
The wet is for debris.
The moment you stop using your knife - even for the shortest of times - use the dry cloth.
Do not let it drip dry. Dry and oil right away.
 
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