Ahhh Rust On My Knife!!

[Steve Warden]

Welcome!

Bummer about your knife.
The lead of a number 2 pencil will take off the rust without scratching any of the metal.
Then make sure to oil!

[Eye Brand Man]

Flitz polish. Your welcome

[jerryd6818]

Both good suggestions for getting rid of the rust now that it's formed but next time you wash it, as the last step, spray it down good with WD-40. The original purpose of that product was to "chase" moisture. It won't harm your knife. Contrary to popular belief, it's not a good lubricant.

[RevolverGuy]

What kind of knife was it? I remove rust spots with some good ol' gun oil (RemOil, or Hoppes) and a Scotch-Brite pad. Light cleaners like baking soda or Bon Ami and a toothbrush also work well.

[dlr110]

This is the latest product I've used and it has worked great in removing dirt and surface rust on the blades I've tried it on.

[Mumbleypeg]

I recently washed my new knife. My attempts to dry it must have been less than adequate. It now has these rust marks on it! I have heard that putting steel in tea will remove rust, has anyone tried this? If you have a solution please post!

Thanks for all your help

Some pictures of the knife would help us determine to what extent it's rusted (plus we like pictures of knives anyway). If it's only light surface rust it can probably be easily removed by rubbing it with just some light oil (like 3-in-1, mineral oil, or the aforementioned WD40) and a soft cloth, applied with a little elbow grease. That's the least aggressive approach and least likely to remove any metal so that's a good starting point.

If that fails and the rust is deeper, move on to the pencil lead and a soft cloth. That is more aggressive but won't remove metal either. Beyond that you'll need to move to the eraser or metal polish. Those are gentle but will remove some amount of the blades' factory polish. Your knife may be beyond that point already but without pictures we don't know. If it's bad enough to the point that you have rust pitting then you have to move to more serious abrasives, like steel wool, emory cloth, sandpaper or similar.

Whatever you do, if you value the knife take it slow and easy. If the gentler approach fails you can always go to a more aggressive level. But once you've removed any metal or finish, you can't put it back and unlike your hair, it's not gonna grow back!

Ken

[Log Cabin Knives]

I don't have any issues with rust, but I now know what to do should it happen. Thanks to everybody who posted!

[rea1eye]

What Ken said. Could not have been written better.

Bob

[WillyCamaro]

What everyone said.

[TwoFlowersLuggage]

But once you've removed any metal or finish, you can't put it back and unlike your hair, it's not gonna grow back!

Or in my case, sometimes the hair doesn't grow back either!

[kootenay joe]

I have used the 'Super Eraser' shown above and it is quite abrasive. It can remove the surface finish and this part of blade will look dull compared to rest of the blade. It is good for older knives in which the original blade finish is already gone, but i would not use it on a new knife.
kj

[dlr110]

I have used the 'Super Eraser' shown above and it is quite abrasive. It can remove the surface finish and this part of blade will look dull compared to rest of the blade. It is good for older knives in which the original blade finish is already gone, but i would not use it on a new knife.
kj

You are absolutely right kj. I have only used it on old carbon blade knives and it has worked very well for me on those. Depending on how bad the dirt and rust might be I might just use one of those ugly pink erasers, but they are very good at removing the dirt and grime.

[Mumbleypeg]

What Ken said. Could not have been written better.

Bob

Thanks Bob. Unfortunately that's about the extent of my useful knowledge!

Ken

[thinkreal]

Hi all
I was looking for advice on dealing with pitting, and also to understand the cause/nature of it.

Mine is not nearly as extreme as these viewtopic.php?f=4&t=41457&p=408713&hili ... ng#p408713
but it has made a huge fault on my favourite blade.

It started when my Widder bowie got fluffy with mildew. As I have found to do on other things, I washed it with vinegar to kill the mould, rinsed and dried it in the sun.
I then polished everything, waxing the sheath (inside and out) and antler/leather handle, oiled the blade.
Everything seemed good, I put it away in a sealed camping box.

A month later I pulled it out and was shocked to find one area had bloomed in rust. It was small very rough spots, like crystal growing out of the steel. It thoroughly covered a patch on one side, from the tip back to about 4 inches.
Immediately I started polishing it, first an oiled cloth (this just tore up on the roughness) then fine steel wool that cleaned it slowly, then buffing wheel with rouge.
What I got to was clean steel covered in fine deep pitting. It is easy to feel and very bumpy under a fingernail. It is distinct from the rest of the blade, which has strong patina and a few minor pits but mostly feels plastic smooth.

I am seeking wisdom before I give it further attention. I restored this blade from quite a rusted and abused state (the handle had been painted black!) but the depth of these holes and being around the detail of the point makes me hesitate.

I don't know how to insert an image, so here are links to it on my google pics library.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jNNMQQBXJLPAyc3S6
https://photos.app.goo.gl/cTrN9H2xUXtcdivm9

Ez

[Mumbleypeg]

Welcome to AAPK. Instructions for posting pictures can be found here: viewforum.php?f=98. Tips on cleaning, rust removal, and preserving can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=37&t=54157
Your post brings several topics. First and most important if the metal is pitted the remedies are not pretty. You can sand it, buff it, what ever, but removing pits means removing metal, which is never desirable. If you smooth out pits you either leave a depression, or you remove the surrounding metal also. If it was mine I’d stop the active rust and leave it alone. But it’s not mine so you’ll have to do as you like.

To stop it from happening again (or what would likely to have prevented it in the first place)? Since I’m not sure what you have done I’ll give some general guidelines.

1. Never store a knife in, or in contact with, a leather sheath. If fact I wouldn’t recommend storing in a sheath at all - just something else to attract and hold moisture, which is the enemy of metal.

2. Your “camping box” may be contributing to the problem, Other items also stored in it could be a source of moisture or harmful chemical vapors. If you must store it in any sealed container, include a desiccant, and see item 3 below.

3. There are several good preservative treatments for metal and handle materials. Products like Eezox, Remoil, Renwax, mineral oil, etc. Everyone has their favorites. Mine are Tuf-Glide for metal and Renwax for handles. Apply before using and reapply before storing.

Over the years I’ve stored my knife collection using several different methods, some with not so good results. For the past several years I’ve used the Tuf-glide and Renwax products and had no problems. Apply them as directed, and a little goes a long ways. A container of each will last years for most. That’s what has worked for me. There are other products that make similar claims.

Ken

[Reverand]

I second Mumbleypeg's post. Great advice!

[thinkreal]

Thanks for the range of advice

Hopefully I have stopped the rust, it has been stable for a week or so. I will look up some of those products.
I suspect there is acid vinegar left in the leather, moisture too. Notable that it only affected the side that touched the rough side of the leather. Not sure what to do with that. It is the original stag embossed sheath, a pity to scrap it
I will store the blade open on the shelf for now. I might find some lesser steel to practice more sanding, later consider more treatment. There is plenty of metal, the blade is 1/4" at the spine, 5/32 at the tip before the primary bevel. But that bevel is hollow ground with a nice line, so I will be wary of carving a dip as you warned.

Try again with the pics, hope you like
Ez

[eveled]

When I see active rust blooms. I scrape them off dry so the rust dust falls away. If you use a rag or an eraser the rust stays in the rag or eraser as an abrasive and will scratch the finish. This is why people use a pencil lead. Those wide carpenters pencils are great for this.

Instead of the pencil I use a flattened brass rifle cartridge as a scraper. The brass won’t scratch the finish. This even works on polished blued firearms. If you are lucky a large rust spot is actually a “bloom” growing from a pin hole and just sitting on the finish.

Once it’s knocked off. Then an oily rag is the only other step.

If it’s a user sometimes you have to embrace the patina.

[Doc B]

I like Renwax! One of the jars lasts forever and it leaves a longer lasting coat on the knife. Reapply if you've used the knife.

[jmh58]

I like Renwax! One of the jars lasts forever and it leaves a longer lasting coat on the knife. Reapply if you've used the knife.

John