Santa Fe Stoneworks

[Lawrence]

Good day folks, I found this little peanut the other day and it was completely rusted shut and covered in sticky crap. I had to ask the flea market guy for some pliers to open it (I thought it was a Frost knife). Pretty surprised when I opened it, and even better to get a deal on a dirty/ rusty old knife.

I spent some time cleaning it up and it looks ok...too bad about the pitting, because it looks like it in fairly new condition. In any case it's a cool little knife. cheers

[dcgm4]

Nice find, Lawrence!

Santa Fe Stonworks makes some really pretty scales. I've owned a few over the years. The only one I have at this time is a peanut similar to yours. The handles are Picasso marble.

[Lawrence]

That's a great looking knife DC...do you know what type of steel they used for these knives?
cheers

[dcgm4]

I'm not too sure about the exact steel, but I know about the time these knives were made Camillus was using stainless steels, mostly AUS-8 or one of the 440s (probably 440B since that's the closest in composition to AUS-8).

[Vit_213]

440A or 420HC

[Lawrence]

thanks DC and Vit...I guess even stainless steel, under the right conditions, will rust - assuming that the different types have various levels of carbon in them. I learn something new every day. cheers

[Vit_213]

Looking at this corrosion, I think that this knife was kept in VERY bad conditions.

[orvet]

Seeing the pitting on that blade I doubt that is stainless steel.
One sure test is to put some cold blueing on the blade and see if it turns dark where the bluing is applied. You can always buff the blueing off, however, if it does darken the blade, I would treat the whole blade with the cold blueing as it will help prevent new rust.

[Lansky1]

I've had a few Santa Fe Stomeworks Camillus folders - the thing that irritates me about them is they hardly ever have stone on both sides of the knife. They have the "presentation" side & then a wood non-matching side on the other ... ok if you want to put it on a shelf & never look at the wood side I guess. I have one of their pen knives with lapis on both scales - one of the only ones I've ever seen with both sides stone (Picasso marble is the exception - those typically come stone on both sides)