Will a GEC Whittler Rust in the Rain

Status
Not open for further replies.
ditto to SusAntigoon on carbon in kitchen. my knife block has an old eye sod buster & an opinel. my main vege knife is a hand forged murry carter which has hitachi white carbon in middle of blade. after 7 yrs. no rust only patina.
 
Modoc ED said:
I deleted proposed response to "midnight flyer's" post as I was too harsh.
Click to expand...

Too late....! I read it before I went back out earlier today.

I didn't mean to step on your toes. This is a peaceful place, and I don't want to contribute to any strife. Re-reading my post, I overshot the mark with my comments about your experience. I certainly want to make sure I give folks credit for their own personal experiences, and realize they may not be the same as mine.

My apologies.

I usually read the thread I am on as one subject and not bounce from one to another, but in this case I would have responded differently if I had.

And honestly... I am not selling anything!

There's nothing to buy! :D

I actually have carbon steel knives rust in my pocket in one day! Not CV, but if you will kindly notice in my post I pointedly said "carbon steel" in this thread as is the knife in your rain/snow test. In my mind that was the same as all the CASE, Kabar, and Queen folders I used to carry 30 - 35 years ago.

Robert
 
Water is a "dubious" liquid when there is a perfectly good slipjoint soaking in it.
 
midnight flyer - No harm no foul. That's why I deleted my post. I just hate to get into a pi$$ing contest. Not worth knocking heads over.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've got to go get my tires this AM and will take pictures of the test knife when I get back this afternoon and post pictures and a report.
 
Although I wouldn't try this "test", I am curious to see what'll happen though.
Been two days now. It'd be interesting to see a follow-up picture.:o
 
i've come to love my GEC whittler so much i hate to see this thread to be honest. Mine did all the chores at the campsite last night whittling stakes and cutting up fruit with the only damage being some leftover fruit on the pen blade and a patina finger print.

Rescuse the GEC and put in a lowly Queen or Case:foot: JK
 
cnas122 said:
There was a picture a while back....I think J. Nugent posted it....of one of Tony's knives that John had lost in a stream and found years later (this is a hint for anyone with time to try and dig up that picture from the Bose thread ;) )
Click to expand...

Here's the post!

And here's the pic:

42022-eFossil.jpg
 
I think we should call the SPCS, the society for prevention of cruelty to slippies.:D
Bring that poor wet slippie in and give it a nice warm oil bath .:(

Regards

Robin
 
RESULTS RESULTS RESULTS

Well, after I got home from getting my new tires, I took the knife out of the grass and took some pictures.

These two pictures are front and back pictures as it came off the dirt/grass. Note there is some spotting but NO RUST. The spots you see on the knife that look like rust are in fact pieces of weed/grass.
gec1.jpg

gec1.jpg


This is a picture of the knife after I cleaned it.
gec3.jpg


The handles are almost perfect with no splitting/cracking/shrinking/delamination at all. However, they did swell/stretch a tad. Before this test they matched the frame exactly. Now, they overhang the frame on the spring side by 1/16 ". A little light sanding will fix that. Probably expected of bone when given a good soak.

There is no rust on the inside of the frame or on the underside/inside of the springs.

Says a lot for the treatment GEC puts on their knives before they ship them.

I blew any moisture off the knife with my air compressor (equipped with two water filters) and have oiled the knife with REM Oil.

NOW. I know this rust test was done with just plain rain water, 6" of snow, and freezing temperatures as low as 28º. I suppose the rain was acid rain but who knows. This test did not involve salt-water and I suppose I could haved left the knife out for another day of rain and salted it down but didn't see the sense in that.

One positive thing that came from this test is that it gave me a good excuse to really clean the knife and polish the hideous blade etchings off the knife.

I had fun doing this test and hope you guys had fun too. As time goes on and some varying speculation comes up about whatever, I won't hesitate to subject another knife to some type of test.
 
Last edited:
Good going Doc!!!:thumbup:

I hope this puts to rest some of the panic some people feel about getting thier cult worship item wet. It will not rust away even after being left in the rain and wet dirt/grass. With even a tiny bit of care, it should be easy to keep a carbon slippy in good condition. After all, what did all those soldiers, sailors, cowboys and other outdoor working people in the 1800's do?

They did just fine.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top