1095 steel and rust

1095 will rust!! O lord. Never thought a HIGH carbon steel would have a tendency to turn ORANGE. Come on guys it's your tool and your responsablility to take care of. Get the knife wet...dry it out, common sense. The rust is neglect and will wear off with use. If more people cared for the things they value a ton less bitching would be heard, in all aspects of life. My opinion.
 
Whole RAT collection isn't better for field use of any other military bayonet or Ka bar knife. RAT 7 has handle with very sharp edges ( not rounded as bayonet M9 or USMC ) and is not for serious cutting of branches because " destroys " palm even with gloves on. It's good for batoning because of blade shape ( " flat ground " ). Steel isn't good for food preparation and if is, you won't prepare food with combat knife ( do you?! ). All in all complete mistake in design, purpose and choice of material.
 
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Suppose you could use mineral oil if you are concerned about food.
 
I've used carbon steel knives for many years, from my first Schrade skinner, an Old Hickory butcher knife or the custom fighter my dad made for me (from a True Temper bush axe blade no less) to my RAT RC-6 (to name just a few). My personal favorite (the one my dad made) has machine indexing on the blade flats and still retains its shine from periodic care with 3 in 1 oil, Breakfree, silicone spray or a silicone cloth (whatever I have handy at the time). My Old Hickory has been brown for years. A few strokes on the Arkansas stone and we cut bait (or anything else for that matter) with ease. My RAT is fairly new, but it will be used hard and will end up with a patina on any of the exposed steel. That is the nature of carbon steel, end of story. So any LEO that doesn't understand this needs to dig a little deeper into the details of their own tools and personal equipment. If you want a good tough knife that will hold an edge, can be fairly easily sharpened and won't break off in whatever you stick it in, what's the problem with a little rust once in a while?
 
Complements of Wikipedia:

A simple and inexpensive way to remove rust from steel surfaces by hand is to rub the steel with aluminium foil dipped in water. Aluminium has a higher reduction potential than the iron in steel, which may help transfer oxygen atoms from the iron to the aluminium. The aluminium foil is softer than steel and will not scratch it, as steel wool will, but as the aluminium oxidizes, the aluminium oxide produced becomes a fine metal polishing compound.
 
cabala said:
Whole RAT collection isn't better for field use of any other military bayonet or Ka bar knife..
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Nobody ever claimed it was.

cabala said:
RAT 7 has handle with very sharp edges ( not rounded as bayonet M9 or USMC ) and is not for serious cutting of branches because " destroys " palm even with gloves on. It's good for batoning because of blade shape ( " flat ground " )..
Click to expand...

This is the RAT cutlery forum, not the Ontario forum. Were discussing rust issues, not your opinion of design flaws.

cabala said:
Steel isn't good for food preparation and if is, you won't prepare food with combat knife ( do you?! )..
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Old hickory kitchen knives, made of 1095, were considered to be some of the best for over a hundred years, only recently have stainless steels become more common in the kitchen here in the west. A majority of asian kitchen cutlery is made with carbon steels and it is still considered some of the best in the world. Many prefer carbon steels for food prep as they seem to take a keener, toothier edge.

As for a combat knife for food prep, lets ask some soliders what knife they tend to use most for their food prep....bet it's the one they have at the time.

cabala said:
All in all complete mistake in design, purpose and choice of material.
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I guess your intitled to your opinion, regardless of how wrong it is.;)
 
Hi,

now the second question is .... "1075 steel and rust ! :rolleyes:
I got a bunch of 1075 knives uncoated and unprotected and some 1095 (Old Timer Schrade for example...)
They can develop some pitting in the blick of an eye IF I forget to clean them.
But the pitting is so superficial. Nails and rag is enough to clean it.
If I let them develop a patina, there is no more problem. Go figure !
I little oily matter, whatever, olive oil or skin grease give enough protection.

Now the powdered coating of the RC knives solves everything and even lightly sanded the protection remains.:D

Cheers
Nemo
 
Is there a thread on the benefits of 1095 steel?
when I first started my chef career 22 years ago all knives where carbon steel and they really didnt like cutting lemons.
The only thing I remember is the knives where easy to sharpen and stayed razor sharp for a long time, Im not sure if they where a 1095 carbon steel or not?
Around then we all went stainless steel and theyve been a biatch to sharpen ever since!
 
cheftothestars said:
Is there a thread on the benefits of 1095 steel?
when I first started my chef career 22 years ago all knives where carbon steel and they really didnt like cutting lemons.
The only thing I remember is the knives where easy to sharpen and stayed razor sharp for a long time, Im not sure if they where a 1095 carbon steel or not?
Around then we all went stainless steel and theyve been a biatch to sharpen ever since!
Click to expand...
1095 is a good user steel. It doesn't hold it's edge forever, but sharpens easily. It also tends to roll over rather than chip (from my experience) which is better so you don't have to spend forever trying to fix a chipped up blade.
 
Something which is known by every cooks

If you cut (prepare) salads with a non coated carbon blade it will be ruined (black) in less than 10 minutes
and this won't happen with a SS blade.

No big deal here as the coating RC knives in minimizing the contact...

cheers
nemo
 
I've posted this on another thread, so forgive me for doing it again.:eek:

I've maintained high carbon steel for years using Blue Magic, a polishing compound that is sold in automotive stores. It removes rust and leaves a protective film that is less intrusive than oil. I've used it to polish scratches off scales, too.

A good rust remover is Naval Jelly. It's applied like a paint, let it dry and then peel off. It's very effective and can be found in Ace hardware stores, among other places.

Flitz is good, too, but I don't think it's as effective as Blue Magic for polishing and removing rust.
 
I know I have one or two carbon steel kitchen knives and even though they don't have a coating on them, properly washing and drying after use is all thats needed. Also wash and dry after cutting fruit

They will turn grey slowly over time, but if you don't like that look, you can rub some oil to protect is,

but really just washing and drying thouroughly will prevent rust, and as they are kitchen knives they get used almost every day.
 
I inherrared a Cammilus navy mkII from my dad. He bought it in a surplus store after wwII. He used it when he was an officer with the merchant navy. So a salty environment. It has stained the blade somewhat but it still in perfect condition. That blade was made more than 60 years ago. The steel is 1095. So I would not worry about rust that much. And after use cleaning and caring helps. Itś the same with people who yell that a knife isn good because it went dull after trying to cut concrete.
 
I'm a new guy here on this forum, so please excuse me if I'm outa line.......But a knife, of any molecular makeup needs attention. Use, use hard....& when the time presents sharpen & clean (CLP for me) The fact that anyone needs to be told to take care of a tool that takes care of you, well, hasn't ever needed such a tool. I'm not hardcore nor tacticool, I just try to follow my dearly missed Grandpa's words of wisdom. Ever notice how them old buggers could make something just last forever!!!
 
will a little rust, browning or a slight patina really affect the effectiveness of the blade? i take care of my blades, but i dont mind a little wear and tear on them, as long as they still work well.
 
Some very good info in this thread. I really like the bee's ax idea, never really thought of that before.

Rem oil, CLP, LSA, mineral oil, bee's wax, all great ideas. :thumbup:

Well I do do something a little crazy at time and if I don't have the right tool for the job I improvise.

Chap Stick!! :D

I always have some on or in my bag. It works in a pinch in the field, might make your knife smell like grapes (hey I like grapes) but hey it works. :D
 
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