Zdp-189

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ricklee4570

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Aug 12, 2010
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I had a dealer recently tell me that he was having complaints about some knives he sold in ZDP-189 having rust issues. He said it is common if you are not careful with ZDP-189 that it will rust pretty easily.

On the composition chart it shows that this steel has 20% Chromium.

Anybody else ever hear anything like this?
 
Since a lot of the Chromium is tied up in carbides, there isn't enough of them free to form a Chromium oxide layer to guard against corrosion.

So yes, ZDP-189 rusting is a very common and well known(or so I thought) issue.
 
20% Cr but also 3% carbon. as noctis said the more carbon the more chromium carbide are formed and the less free chromium you have in the matrix (unles you have another strong carbide former) ...

zdp won't patina but it will rust and pit if neglected.
 
If you clean ZDP off with Flitz or Simicrome it seems to leave a light coating of protection which resists surface rust/discoloring better than just the steel.
 
ricklee4570 said:
I had a dealer recently tell me that he was having complaints about some knives he sold in ZDP-189 having rust issues. He said it is common if you are not careful with ZDP-189 that it will rust pretty easily.

On the composition chart it shows that this steel has 20% Chromium.

Anybody else ever hear anything like this?
Click to expand...

Yes. I have heard similar comments from owners of ZDP189 blades.
 
I've heard of it, but I've never had the issue myself. I clean my blades after use and even after just sitting around.

Something I also do that is silly, but makes me feel better is storing my knives with a desiccant (moisture absorber) such as chalk or silica gel.
 
I have seen tiny rust spots develop inside the hole of my Lum Chinese, but nothing too major - I do, however, wipe my blade with a silicone cloth about once a week. I'd suspect that it may be a real issue if you live in an area with high humidity.
 
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I read about a guy who cut tomatoes with a ZDP-189 blade and didn't wipe it off right away. He found it actually resulted in pitting.
 
Interesting. Definately a consideration for me in my EDC rotation changes... My E4 ZDP-189 keeps tempting me but it looks sooo purdy without a single flaw from carrying yet. And between the D4, Tenacious and Native I don't necessarily NEED to move it into roto (not to mention the Salt 1 in my jump bag and the Saver Salt I keep meaning to do something with)...
 
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