Red Rust Spots on Brass Liners?

AFAustin

AFAustin

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While normally this would be better posted in MTE, because it pertains especially to traditional folders, I wanted to post it here first.

I embarked on a knife-by-knife inspection yesterday, to make sure all was well with my blade family. For the most part it was, but on a handful of my traditional folders I noticed a few very small spots on the brass liners. (You had to look for them, and very strong light or a loupe was necessary to get a good view.) They were reddish in color so I assumed rust, although after reading up a bit on the web, I'm now uncertain as to whether brass even rusts. I got them all out with Simichrome, or fine sandpaper on a few stubborn ones, but this has raised a concern.

My questions:

Can brass liners actually acquire red rust?

Will periodic wiping with rubbing alcohol prevent it? I'm pretty good about keeping my blades wiped down but hadn't really given much thought to the liners. I know mineral oil would do the trick, but I'd rather not resort to it as it tends to pick up pocket lint.

Thanks for any insight.

Andrew
 
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Brass is rather filthy stuff in my experience.....:eek: not only can it generate verdigris-green brass bleed- which stains light colour scales, notably Stag and pale bone, but it can pick up or perhaps generate corrosion from carbon steel itself.

Probably a lot depends on the air quality of where you live, humidity fluctuations and even the acids you secrete yourself from your skin, some or all of these may have a bearing on how brass 'behaves' .

I've certainly noticed these red blemishes myself on liners, possibly rust 'splatter' I'm not a chemist so I can't explain it. Frequent use and wiping the insides out with a pipe cleaner or swab will be enough to keeps things fine. Knives with brass liners that have light colour bone or Stag that I have immersed in mineral oil overnight have NOT fared well, they've often developed verdigris and the green staining has been a disfigurement.

This is why I always prefer stainless, all steel or Nickel Silver liners/pins given a choice.

Regards, Will
 
Copper, brass, bronze all get a greenish oxide after exposure to acid rain, salt water, etc...… Some Naval Bronze not so much... Think of the green statue of the local war hero in your town park...….. It started out bright & shiny...… Ammonia will remove the oxide..... Try some on a tarnished penny to see the results...…. If you want to use it on your prize trumpet, or knife, read up on any health warnings and inadvertent contact with other materials...….. A little bit on a Q-tip can be used to remove tarnish from hard to reach spots.... Then rinse it well with warm soapy water...…… Rinse it with hot clean water...…. Dry it out with your wife's hair dryer.... Spritz it out with WD-40, or similar, and you should be good to go...…… The only way to keep the oxide from reoccurring is to eliminate contact with the source of the oxide formation...….
 
george65 said:
could be buffing compound that wasn't cleaned off when if left the factory
Click to expand...

Without knowing the composition of the particular buffing compound it would be anyone's guess...…. But my guess is it wouldn't be a direct cause of corrosion; but possibly an indirect cause by trapping sweat(salt) and or other corrosive substances in contact with the metal.....
 
Gents, I appreciate your posts. HEMI 49, some good tips there, thanks. But the spots I saw weren't green or greenish, they were definitely a rust red, so...?
 
I worked in a copper manufacturing facility for 37 years and never saw copper or a copper alloy oxidize with a red colored oxide..... My only offering is that we worked with electrolytic copper and alloys which were free of trash...…. If your "brass" is a mechanical grade it could have all kinds of tramp materials in it... Including materials that could turn red when they oxidize...…. My suggestion is to put a small magnet against the oxide and see if it is attracted...…… If so, it belongs in the Ferrous family (iron, steel) and not the non-ferrous family; I.E copper, copper based alloys, aluminum, etc...……..
 
Thanks, the plot thickens. I can't do the magnet test right now because I was able to remove all the spots yesterday.

Most of the knives in question were Case traditional folders, along with one A.G. Russell, so I assume (and hope) the brass liners were of good quality with no tramp materials included. This is a head scratcher....
 
Trumpets are made of brass (copper and zinc alloy, I think), and they can develop what's called "red rot" mainly on the first tube beyond the mouthpiece. Probably components in the person's saliva causing the copper to leach out. Definately can look redish in color. Also, I'd be very leery about using any ammonia around brass. It can weaken it. It's a big no no for brass cartridge reloaders.
 
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