Avoiding rust (again)

[Stew]

So how did your damascus-patina test go?

 

[faca]

I have been busy with others knife projects but perhaps this weekend I´ll try.
Enjoy

 

[Adi007]

Is the problem with our tools that we just don't use then enough? I remember all the tools that my grandfather has (sickles, scythes, pen knives, billhook) that were all carbon steel but major rust wasn't a problem. Penknives and so on took on a sort of patina but nothing that seemed to affect performance. Nothing was oil coated jsut cleaned and sharpened after use.

Are steels of poorer quality or it it that constant use keeps the corrosion better under control? Has stainless steel changed our perception of how tools should look?

 

[Stew]

Is the problem with our tools that we just don't use then enough?

You could well be right. My Leatherman Wave has never got rusty (as you would expect) and I wear it all the time at work. It get's a lot of use as I can't be bothered to carry a tool bag round with me most of the time.

However, I have a friend that has a Wave too but he barely uses it. It started to get rust patches so he took it back and he got a new one for free.

 

[coutel]

Placing the blade in a bag with a load of mashed up tomatoes is another good way to get a working patina as well......I have never like shiny knives :-D

 

[Adi007]

Does the patina protect the surface? :?:

 

[Colin KC]

Yes Adi, it does

 

[Colin KC]

only to an extent though.

 

[alick]

Adi, the quality of steel thing is interesting. No doubt we can make far better steel today than 50 years ago - metallurgy has moved on. I'd assume this is the case for any good knife steel.

But if you look at (say) woodworking tools, plane irons made 70 odd years ago from "cast steel" are rare, expensive and prized for being much better than the steel used in equivalent tools today.

Although this old steel does rust, it does so in an even speckled pattern. Poor new tools often show rust "veining" its way across the surface. I'm told this is to do with a less even structure within the metal.
Cheers.

 

[MartiniDave]

For mid to long term protection you can buy a gun oil called "Rangoon Oil", this was formulated for weapon storage in places like India and the colonies where higher humidity can be encountered. I've found it works well on guns and also knives. I have owned a kabar for about 15 years now, it is stored in the sheath but Rangoon oil has kept it free of rust.

Hope the above is helpful.

Dave

 

[Andrew Middleton]

Thanks everyone for answering my query and giving me some useful tips. I particularly like the attitude of "don't worry about it, it's only a tool". This goes against my nature, particularly at £200 for the knife. However, my new years resolution is to get out and use my kit, treat it with respect, but don't treat the tools as so precious. (I'm usually OK, once I've scratched something for the first time and in a couple of years time I'll wonder what I was so worried about.)