Spyderco Forums

We all have a general idea as to how corrosion resistant most steels are (offered by spyderco), but sometimes what happens doesn't correlate with the general consensus. 52100 may never rust in an extremely dry environment, and LC200N could see small hints of rust around the engravings when exposed to extremely salty conditions for an excessive amount of time. This is a place to share your incidents of rust/patina/corrosion that surprised you.

Check out the pivot on this s110v military



It got to the point where I could no longer spydie-flick it open. The pivot got it the worst, as the knife was clipped in my pocket (pivot was exposed to the salt air). This took about 15 days to happen, but the environment was highly conducive to corrosion (it was essentially "misting" salt water at all times — you could constantly see the little droplets in the air). Nonetheless, I was surprised at how quickly s110v rusted. Now I'm wondering how 204p would've handled it.

Have you ever been severely surprised by a knife's corrosion resistance, or lack thereof?

:spyder:

I can’t really think of any standouts but I have been pleasantly surprised by the corrosion resistance of s90v

What kind of precautions did you take to prevent it? If you went into those conditions with a bone dry blade, this doesn't surprise me at all.

Inside the handles of a mule with Spyderco scales.

Fixed the problem with a felt layer soaked in food grade INOX between scale and handle.
( red strip of felt actually looks good also )

How did the blade itself fair pelagic?
I think the finish has a lot to do with "corrosion resistance". My first southfork developed rust and it was S90V. I have a few folders with S90V and never had an issue. The southfork has a very rough "satin" finish on it. I think that's why the southfork rust and my military, para 2, and manix 2 in S90V never rusted. The area on that knife is usually the most unrefined for the para 2. For the southfork I could easily pick the rust out. I used it a lot for food and carried it IWB in the summer. The other folders were usually exposed to sweat, humidity, and heat as well in my pockets.

ZDP surprised me because it will take almost a patina. I used mine for food prep and noticed discoloration on the blade. No actual corrosion but I found it odd.

M390 has been very corrosion resistant in my experience. I've used the mule for years in the kitchen. Recently cut limes with it and left the juice on it for hours. My M390 military hasn't shown any corrosion either.

I had some rust spots near the top of the blade on my wharncliffe Dragonfly, but it had spent about 8 hours in my waistband, soaked in sweat and salt water. I was able to clean them off easily enough.

S110V - Went fishing on the Texas coast. Was using my new PM2 in S110V to cut bait. This was night fishing. Got back to the room exhausted and reels, rods, and knives went without even a freshwater rinse. Checkout was that day and for the first and hopefully last time, I left something of value in a hotel room when I checked out. My PM2 had probably got knocked into some hard to see place in the room. And, to the staff's credit, the knife was turned in to the front desk so when I called, they had it. What followed were staff changes, coordination, a tropical storm, and other delays. I finally received the knife back a few months later. All this time without any maintenance. I expected at least a few spots after a good cleaning but there weren't any. None. Blade looked new. Now.. I usually don't care much about stainless. But when I do care, like a knife to be used around saltwater, don't think I need H1.. S110V works fine.

This was my first lesson in corrosion resistance. Received the KW CF M4 PM2 in May of 2018 for my birthday. Took it to work the next day to put it through its paces. I unfortunately cut some empty jugs that I did not rinse out. They held a fairly acidic peroxide based cleaner. And without realizing what I had done, I folded the knife and put back in the pocket. When I got home and emptied my pockets, I saw the rust. The blade was completely covered and pitted. I almost cried. I used a bunch of barkeepers friend and Flitz, and this is how it ended up.


I still use it all the time. Carrying it today actually. But it is a constant reminder to be mindful of how I treat my tools.

Evil D wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 5:43 am

What kind of precautions did you take to prevent it? If you went into those conditions with a bone dry blade, this doesn't surprise me at all.

It was lubed with "liberty oil" a green knife lube at the beginning of the job and after noticing the pivot sticking it was WD-40'd daily. It just kept rusting.

The blade received a decent amount of cosmetic rust that was difficult to wipe off, however it did wipe off, no pitting.

I have been very impressed with the corrosion resistance of all my Spyderco knives. I live a few hundred feet from the ocean, carry IWB and have never rust on any of them, a little staining/patina on the tool steels but not much. I apply Corrosion X on the pivots of my knives when I first get them but never use anything to protect the blade other than wiping them dry after use.

I have a kitchen knife made with MC66 which I understand is Zwilling's name for ZDP-189 and if forget to wipe it down after cooking can have rust spots by the time we're done with dinner. My Dragonfly and wife's Ladybug (both ZDP-189) are much better in this regard.

I was surprised when both CTS-BD1N and M390 developed patinas upon cutting pork and beef, respectively.

Tims wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 5:08 am

I can’t really think of any standouts but I have been pleasantly surprised by the corrosion resistance of s90v

Hey Tim, S90V seems fine around freshwater but I’d be weary about leaving it wet with saltwater, fish blood, slim etc.

This isn’t a great picture and it’s after I rubbed off what I could with my thumb. This is the result a few hours after brain spiking a fish, sloshing the knife clean in saltwater and slipping it back in it’s sheath wet on a hot day.

Nothing to worry about and it’s worn away with use but I can’t help but think it would have been a different story if left for a couple of days. :eek:

Irrelevant post. :o

My S110V Manix LW was my Atlantic swimming/beach knife before I got any Salt models. The blade remained spotless after several submergings and not being cleaned immediately. Some of the hardware (backspacer only I think) leached a tiny bit of red rust color, but it wipes off easily.

The rust on my Police 4 liners surprised me. Knew the blade would corrode eventually but didn't think the liners would show that much rust so quickly.



Whenever I take it apart and clean it out I'll take some better pictures.

Decided to see how sweat and Maxamet get along?
.

.
Maxamet (untreated) after One weeks EDC, in the July heat here in central Florida. Wasn't near the coast that week.

I love the steel, just needs to be protected. Going to reserve it for winter carry only (from now on).

Vivi wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:19 pm

Whenever I take it apart and clean it out I'll take some better pictures.

Buy a tin of Eezox mate for when you do have it apart. I think you may well be pleasantly surprised down the track. :)

Bloke wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 7:22 pm

Tims wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 5:08 am

I can’t really think of any standouts but I have been pleasantly surprised by the corrosion resistance of s90v

Hey Tim, S90V seems fine around freshwater but I’d be weary about leaving it wet with saltwater, fish blood, slim etc.

This isn’t a great picture and it’s after I rubbed off what I could with my thumb. This is the result a few hours after brain spiking a fish, sloshing the knife clean in saltwater and slipping it back in it’s sheath wet on a hot day.

Nothing to worry about and it’s worn away with use but I can’t help but think it would have been a different story if left for a couple of days. :eek:

I definitely haven’t put it away wet and salty so I haven’t pushed it but it’s stood up so far with salt use. I’m pretty anal about washing/rinsing my knives though.

Tims wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 15, 2019 5:54 am

Bloke wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 7:22 pm

Tims wrote: ↑

Sun Jul 14, 2019 5:08 am

I can’t really think of any standouts but I have been pleasantly surprised by the corrosion resistance of s90v

Hey Tim, S90V seems fine around freshwater but I’d be weary about leaving it wet with saltwater, fish blood, slim etc.

I’m pretty anal about washing/rinsing my knives though.

Good way to be I reckon ... the only blades I seem to have corrosion problems with are “stainless” blades. :confused: Ah, hahaha!

Rust was forming while sharpening a M4 Para3 on my Hapstone. I was shocked to see the rust form from slurry of water/baby shampoo that I used on the stones as lubricant. In retrospect I should have used water only or SM rods. Picked up some pin size pits in the jimping of 52100 the same way...