Spyderco Forums

Like the community sharpening journal, I thought it would be interesting if we had a corrosion journal of sorts.

Post the steel, environmental conditions, photos of the corrosion, whether it was intentional or accidental etc.

I think if this thread grows it will be incredibly informative. Especially with a wide range of contributions.

Here's my first contribution, my Rex45 Native Chief.

You can read about the forced patina I did here - viewtopic.php?t=89329

Since then I sanded the blade a bit more, but it's mostly the same.

Past few days have been hot and sweaty. I've been carrying the Chief IWB anyways. I wanted to see how it would stand up to sweat exposure after forcing the patina.

It has been doing pretty good. There is some faint orange where the blade is exposed while folded on the show side. Difficult to capture with a phone camera. Here's the best shot:

One of my recent knives in K390 showed up from the dealer with a patina on one side of the ricasso. I don’t mind getting a patina but I want to be the one who does it! Code date was July 2021. The knife didn’t seem nearly as oily as my other tool steels so perhaps that was the cause.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=60127&p=1272932&hil ... e#p1272932

Woodpuppy wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:16 pm

I’ve been working in the yard since about 7:30am running a chainsaw and picking up oak tree windfall from Hurricane Michael. My office is closed tomorrow too, so I might get it all picked up this weekend.

I had my M4 para3 in my pocket, using it to cut vines and small limbs that were still binding up the branches. Clearly I should have swapped out for the Salt 2, and I’m even more interested in the Hawkbill now.

Zoom in on the pic and you can see sweat condensation droplets, rust spots, and whatever vine I cut turned the blade black. Those black spots pitted quite a bit.


Same knife after some extensive flitz care and letting patina develop. It’s a favorite. M4 is still a favorite:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=58681&p=1361816&hil ... 3#p1361816

Woodpuppy wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 22, 2019 4:51 pm

I finally gave in and decided to let the patina do its thing on my M4 para3

Woodpuppy wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 27, 2022 8:02 pm

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=60127&p=1272932&hil ... e#p1272932

Woodpuppy wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 11, 2018 2:16 pm

I’ve been working in the yard since about 7:30am running a chainsaw and picking up oak tree windfall from Hurricane Michael. My office is closed tomorrow too, so I might get it all picked up this weekend.

I had my M4 para3 in my pocket, using it to cut vines and small limbs that were still binding up the branches. Clearly I should have swapped out for the Salt 2, and I’m even more interested in the Hawkbill now.

Zoom in on the pic and you can see sweat condensation droplets, rust spots, and whatever vine I cut turned the blade black. Those black spots pitted quite a bit.


Same knife after some extensive flitz care and letting patina develop. It’s a favorite. M4 is still a favorite:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=58681&p=1361816&hil ... 3#p1361816

Woodpuppy wrote: ↑

Sun Sep 22, 2019 4:51 pm

I finally gave in and decided to let the patina do its thing on my M4 para3

That's intense. Did you ever figure out what turned it black? the sweat spots aren't surprising but that big black spot is.

viewtopic.php?t=87786

That's a long thread I did on intentionally corroding a DLC M4 blade.

I’m really not sure what all the vines were. Not poison ivy; I did cut some grape but I would not expect that to be corrosive.

I’ve found that a lot of plants with latex-y sap are hard on steel and irritating to exposed skin. I get weird purple stains on my 1095 machete.

must be something that doesn't grow where I live because I use everything from Pacific Salts to machetes on various plant growth in the yard and on trails and haven't seen anything like that.

I've found that a number of plants can be quite corrosive. Working outdoors I have been using my pocket knives like mini machetes to chop mostly invasive plants. Some can stain a stainless blade in minutes, part of the reason I like H1 as a work knife steel.

As an experiment, my S110v Manix LW has been my swim shorts knife for years of yard work followed by soaking in the pool, and despite straight up abuse the blade looks great. I think this was the 4th year in a row it's lived in my swim shorts all summer, remaining wet for hours/days in the shorts pocket hung up after swimming. We own a pool and a hot tub so its fully submerged and left wet almost every day during the summer. The spring and ball are fine (btw), but the backspacer is covered in surface rust. I hope Magnacut will do as well or better because S110v isn't my favorite edge, but its been better than LC200n and H1 in this specific situation for me. Still hoping for that Manix2 LW Salt!

Pics of S110v after 4 years of swimming in the pool/hot tub, left in wet shorts after:





After 30-60 seconds of fingernail/thumb rub:





Inside was a little more difficult, so I used a flat head to get in there, again only 30-60 second attempt:
Before:

After:


FWIW, my 15dps reprofile held up as well as rest of the blade, with minor touch ups through out. S110v loses it's fine edge pretty quickly IME, but it does continue to cut for a long time... I just prefer a tool steel type edge (M4, K390). Hoping Magnacut lives up to the hype!

Thanks for the thread vivi !

Man I'd have to go back to carrying a lot of stuff I don't carry anymore, but I can at least throw a couple experiences in.

M4 - I had spot rust and pitting just from carrying in my pocket even after a forced patina and Tuf-Glide. I guess it's possible that corrosion had started to form before the patina?

S90V - I've had it spot rust from carrying on hot humid days. I carried the S90V Yojimbo for a good couple years exclusively and saw this happen a few times. It never did pit though.

S30V - Same story, from either pocket carry or putting it away not perfectly clean and dry.

ZDP189 - Carried a ZDP Ladybug for years on my keys, and I like to clip my keys to a belt ring and tuck them into my back pocket so essentially the Ladybug was carried in the same environment as a clipped folder would be. I saw lots of spot rusting and pitting on the blade and I believe that one still shows the scars to this day.

52100 - This shouldn't be a surprise, my Military will rust if you give it any amount of chance to. I've let it patina and have polished it off several times, it has some pitting and other spots where the patina actually corroded away the brushed texture from the blade.

Beyond those I've had stop pins in particular rust more than any other hardware. The other areas I've seen it (even on Salts) is where the hardware makes contact with other things, where water can collect and sit. I've seen rust around the pivots on a few linerless Salts, and around the screw/pillars on my Caribbean.

Probably of relevance is that I'm never around salt water, all of my issues have been from working in all weather types, mostly those hot and humid rainy summer days.

Two of Spyderco's blade steels I've always had great luck with concerning corrosion are AUS-8 and ATS-55. I don't ever recall AUS-8 ever having any corrosion problems to speak of. My oldest Spyderco CATCHERMAN model has an AUS-8 blade and I still use it quite frequently. Also AUS-8 is one great blade steel for serrated blades.

Also the first blade steel Spyderco ever used known as GIN-1 also had great anti-corrosion properties as well. It always seemed to me that the blade steels that Spyderco used with the best anti-corrosion properties also seemed to do really well with fully serrated blades.

abbazaba wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 27, 2022 9:22 pm

As an experiment, my S110v Manix LW has been my swim shorts knife for years of yard work followed by soaking in the pool, and despite straight up abuse the blade looks great. I think this was the 4th year in a row it's lived in my swim shorts all summer, remaining wet for hours/days in the shorts pocket hung up after swimming. We own a pool and a hot tub so its fully submerged and left wet almost every day during the summer. The spring and ball are fine (btw), but the backspacer is covered in surface rust. I hope Magnacut will do as well or better because S110v isn't my favorite edge, but its been better than LC200n and H1 in this specific situation for me. Still hoping for that Manix2 LW Salt!

...

FWIW, my 15dps reprofile held up as well as rest of the blade, with minor touch ups through out. S110v loses it's fine edge pretty quickly IME, but it does continue to cut for a long time... I just prefer a tool steel type edge (M4, K390). Hoping Magnacut lives up to the hype!

Fantastic data point... S110V really resists corrosion well.

This has been my experience too with the S110V UKPK. I don't swim with mine, but I carry it often in the waistband which can be harsh for corrosion. It has been corrosion free since day 1.

I share your sentiments about S110V losing its fine edge quickly, and I also prefer the M4 class tool steels over it for their fine edge quality.

I’ve used the AEB-L Urban as a pool knife. No corrosion on it ever.

Great idea for a thread! I should have some pics to post once I find time to go through my collection.

Bradley Air - M4: Small black pits from sweat, light pocket carry only.

Spyderco kitchen knives - Both MBS-26 & BD1N: Minor red rust surface spots that are pretty easy to clean off and do not seem to spread.

GEC Beer Scout - 1095: small corrosion pits from pocket carry.

Beretta Pico: Minor red rust on slide serrations from pocket carry.

None of my other steels have shown any corrosion even from heavy sweating here in the humidity. Cruwear does very well for me, Rex45 has not yet been a problem. All true stainless have had zero issues including an Aus-8 CS that lives in the garage and gets treated poorly.

I guess I'm blessed with less than average corrosiveness of my sweat.

abbazaba wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 27, 2022 9:22 pm

As an experiment, my S110v Manix LW has been my swim shorts knife for years of yard work followed by soaking in the pool, and despite straight up abuse the blade looks great. I think this was the 4th year in a row it's lived in my swim shorts all summer, remaining wet for hours/days in the shorts pocket hung up after swimming. We own a pool and a hot tub so its fully submerged and left wet almost every day during the summer. The spring and ball are fine (btw), but the backspacer is covered in surface rust. I hope Magnacut will do as well or better because S110v isn't my favorite edge, but its been better than LC200n and H1 in this specific situation for me. Still hoping for that Manix2 LW Salt!

Pics of S110v after 4 years of swimming in the pool/hot tub, left in wet shorts after:

Honestly thinking about getting a s110v manix 2 instead of the Maxamet or other not as corrosion resistant steels for that reason. The pinned construction and the s110v kinda makes it great for low maintenance use

My K390 Endela has been slow to patina.

My Old Timer 40+ years old, has aged nicely, I've used it for everything in its lifetime including dressing deer.



My Carbone Opinels will patina with one or two uses despite prompt clean up.



I'm wanting to order a Mint M4 N5 before they are out of stock to actually use. Most of my other Spyderco's are stainless of one sort or another.

My K390 dragonfly has a very nice, mild patina from use in minor food prep. Living in wet-but-not-humid western Oregon, I have had no rust issues with any of my blades, though I have purchased mostly stainless, I'm now starting to dabble in M4 and Cru-Wear.