|quoted:

The one I've made seems to corrode in a couple days when left in its leather sheath.

Hi Travis,

High carbon steels are definitely NOT like stainless steels- they corrode much faster than blades with a higher chromium content; hence the name stainless. I would not recommend leaving a high carbon blade in its sheath, unless the sheath been properly treated ( I know guys who soak them in oil to resist this effect). Leather contains a lot of chemicals that are pretty bad for steel, and leaving high carbon steel in direct contact will result in rust. As for a preventative, some gun guys swear by a product called Balistol as a rust inhibitor.

Best of luck-

Evan

|quoted:

Hi Travis,

High carbon steels are definitely NOT like stainless steels- they corrode much faster than blades with a higher chromium content; hence the name stainless. I would not recommend leaving a high carbon blade in its sheath, unless the sheath been properly treated ( I know guys who soak them in oil to resist this effect). Leather contains a lot of chemicals that are pretty bad for steel, and leaving high carbon steel in direct contact will result in rust. As for a preventative, some gun guys swear by a product called Balistol as a rust inhibitor.

Best of luck-

Evan

Thanks Evan. I will have to try treating my sheath as well as the Balistol.

There is the stuff called forgs lube. Google it. It's the best stuff I know of. Also wd40, not regular wd though the specialist version works well too.

Best of luck

Jason

For skinners, your hand rubbed 600 grit is good, but a higher grit finish will resist corrosion longer. Consider rubbing up to 1200 and hitting the buffer (not a true mirror, but will slow corrosion). Other options are to force a patina (vinegar, bleach, mustard, ferric chloride, etc) and then buff. The patina helps to slow corrosion but you have to deal with a blade that is not "white". As far as lube, I use food grade mineral oil. On a skinner, food grade is an important quality to any chemical you put on your blade.

Thanks for the info Steven!

Travis

Travis, Birchwood Casey makes a product called Barricade. It is primarily a rust/corrosion inhibitor for firearms, but works on just about any metal, especially HC steels. It also resists those nasty little finger prints and smears left by prospective buyers who (for some unknown reason) just have to touch the blade and run their dirty little fingers across the bevels...…..

It comes in spray cans or individually packaged towelettes (like a wet nap). I always coat my blades in this for any type of storage or right before a show. I also include a sigle packet with every purchase.

Never had a problem.

I wonder if I may ask under the same heading as blade finish, the following:

There are makers selling knives that have a 60 grit finish. In confronting the practice I got accused of being an ABS snob for insisting that a blade finished on the lower end of the grid range the maker is lazy and buyer of these objects are ignorant.

I stated that such a rough grind would create stress risers, difficult to keep clean, easily rusts, not have the same cutting quality as a 800 grit satin finish and lastly might effect the edge retention depending on the geometry used.

Could some of the learned gentleman please assist as to why a 800 plus blade finish is scientifically more acceptable, or am I reall being a SNOB by taking on makers that use this rough grind practice and are my reasons reasonable counter arguments.

Stan - I saw some of that conversation and I'm in agreement with you for the most part.

60 grit is unacceptable to me for a blade finish for all of the reasons you suggest.

When I do some machine finish knives I usually end at 400 with a soft platen backer of some kind for a nice satin finish.

I can come up with a few adjectives for folks who make and buy 60 grit finished blades but I will not use them here.

|quoted:

Travis, Birchwood Casey makes a product called Barricade. It is primarily a rust/corrosion inhibitor for firearms, but works on just about any metal, especially HC steels. It also resists those nasty little finger prints and smears left by prospective buyers who (for some unknown reason) just have to touch the blade and run their dirty little fingers across the bevels...…..

It comes in spray cans or individually packaged towelettes (like a wet nap). I always coat my blades in this for any type of storage or right before a show. I also include a sigle packet with every purchase.

Never had a problem.

I've recently started trying this and so far I really like it and haven't had any issues. Thanks for all your help!

|quoted:

Stan - I saw some of that conversation and I'm in agreement with you for the most part.

60 grit is unacceptable to me for a blade finish for all of the reasons you suggest.

When I do some machine finish knives I usually end at 400 with a soft platen backer of some kind for a nice satin finish.

I can come up with a few adjectives for folks who make and buy 60 grit finished blades but I will not use them here.

Thanks Karl

|quoted:

I wonder if I may ask under the same heading as blade finish, the following:

There are makers selling knives that have a 60 grit finish. In confronting the practice I got accused of being an ABS snob for insisting that a blade finished on the lower end of the grid range the maker is lazy and buyer of these objects are ignorant.

I stated that such a rough grind would create stress risers, difficult to keep clean, easily rusts, not have the same cutting quality as a 800 grit satin finish and lastly might effect the edge retention depending on the geometry used.

Could some of the learned gentleman please assist as to why a 800 plus blade finish is scientifically more acceptable, or am I reall being a SNOB by taking on makers that use this rough grind practice and are my reasons reasonable counter arguments.

I do not know the specifics of the conversation, but I will offer my thoughts.

I'm a firm believer in market economics. The custom knife market is so broad and full of all sorts of folks with all sorts of ideas. It's usually best not to get in a discussion with another maker about why he's doing something other than the way you have been taught or practicing, unless they ask for advice. Even then, beware. People don't always ask for advice. I find that 9 times out of 10 they are asking for confirmation of what they have already decided. Be that as it may, there are people who will not recognize the difference between a 60 grit finish and a 600 grit finish, other than one costs less. These are not the customers you seek.

When asked what I think of these rough finish knives, I usually just say that it's not what most makers would consider high quality and leave it at that. If anyone ever told me I was an ABS snob, I'd just laugh and say, no, I'm a craftsman who is proud of my work.

|quoted:

I do not know the specifics of the conversation, but I will offer my thoughts.

I'm a firm believer in market economics. The custom knife market is so broad and full of all sorts of folks with all sorts of ideas. It's usually best not to get in a discussion with another maker about why he's doing something other than the way you have been taught or practicing, unless they ask for advice. Even then, beware. People don't always ask for advice. I find that 9 times out of 10 they are asking for confirmation of what they have already decided. Be that as it may, there are people who will not recognize the difference between a 60 grit finish and a 600 grit finish, other than one costs less. These are not the customers you seek.

When asked what I think of these rough finish knives, I usually just say that it's not what most makers would consider high quality and leave it at that. If anyone ever told me I was an ABS snob, I'd just laugh and say, no, I'm a craftsman who is proud of my work.

Sound advice, thank you Joshua!