Carbon Spots

[Quick Steel]

Can anyone suggest an effective means of removing carbon spots?

[Mumbleypeg]

I use a number 2 pencil lead (graphite). Does a good job removing surface spots without removing metal. However if the spot has devolved into a pit, you’ll still have a pit.

Ken

[dsutton24]

Carbon spots are tiny areas of corrosion. In some rare cases they will wipe off easily. Most of the time, however, you're going to have to remove metal to eradicate them completely.

[rwmoss1]

Some "Flitz" or other metal polish can help. You don't want to scratch the blade or remove metal, whatever you do. Sometimes it's better to just leave them alone. Carbon steel must be cleaned and wiped after each use. Keep the joints oiled and a thin coat of oil on the blade for rust prevention. The key to carbon steel is to prevent damage more so than trying to repair damage.

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Hard to get those out. I use Simichrome and toothpicks to do a little scrubbing of the spot. You will have to repeat this over and over to get some stubborn spots out and it won’t work on some that are deeply pitted and or spread out. The spider veins type of carbon spots can be a particularly hard spot to make head way on.
If you aren’t opposed to leaving behind evidence of the scrubbing then I would recommend using 000 grade steel wool with the Simichrome. It will dull the shine on the blade where you have scrubbed it. 000 grit does leave things shinny but you can see it on a polished blade and it’s not as sharp. Some have tried just scrubbing the whole blade after you scrub the spot to make the blades look even. Only trick I know from my years of doing this.