to sal

copilotboy · #1

i don't want to be a nuisance or be anal retentive, but I have a problem with my copilot. I left it in a glass of water to soak for a couple hours, and when I took it back out, it was rusted all over. It was just plain water that i left it in. Is this right? I expected more from the knife than this.

dac · #2

This is a joke, right? Any steel will rust and any knife left "soaking" in water will rust. If you want a knife that won't rust in water, you should get a ceramic, talonite, or titanium blade knife.

Clay Kesting · #3

The ATS55 steel, from which tne Copilot blade is made contains, 14% chromium and is stain resistant rather than stainless. From memory "stainless" steels contain closer to 20% chromium and make great butter knives. Most high carbon cutlery stain resistant steels will show some signs of corrosion if exposed to moisture for long periods. Some people even have problems with their own sweat.

Clay

Don't worry that the world might end tomorrow, in Australia it's tomorrow already.

ftkinney · #4

out of curiosity, why did you soak the knife in the first place, because it was dirty?

FTK

#5

Hi CoPilot boy. that is unusual. I often leave my stainless knives in water, even the dishwasher without problems. We would have to see it to know anything for sure. The handle and lock rusted as well?

Clay, anything over 14% is considered stainless. Real stainless like 304 has no carbon. Rust is caused with the chlorine ion attacks the carbon atom in the steel matrix.

sal

Clay Kesting · #6

Sal,

I stand corrected. I was thinking of steels like 440A which do seem to be more stain resistant. However I checked my metallurgy textbook and, as you say, stainless steels start around 12-14% Cr with the high end around 18%. I should've checked <b>before </b> I posted instead of relying on this old memory <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>.

Clay

Don't worry that the world might end tomorrow, in Australia it's tomorrow already.

Edited by - Clay Kesting on 5/12/2001 8:08:23 PM

copilotboy · #7

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't think there were so many people named sal on this forum. My question was for Sal and noone else. Obviously I soaked it because it was dirty and the locking mechanism was slow, and I soaked it as a precursor to oiling and sharpening it. I didn't expect a "stainless" knife to rust after very minimal exposure. The rust is basically a few spots on the blade, a large stain on the spine, and large spots on the interior and exterior of the handle. I just wanted to know from sal how unusual this was and if I could do anything to correct the problem. If i can i will post pictures of the knife later. Thank you for replying so quickly!

ftkinney · #8

sorry -- i did not mean to be rude. when i was a boy i worked in a kitchen and some of the older chefs soaked their knives before sharpening them and i never asked why, i thought maybe it might be somthing like that as well a dirt etc.

FTK

sam the man.. · #9

Poor knife! *hee-hee!*

Sam

have spydies will travel

#10

Hi CoPilot Boy. I'm certainly not the only "expert" here and I rely on many of the visitors to assist me in moderating this forum. Otherwise it would not be possible for me to be here. I do have a day job. I also travel a great deal overseas and this forum might go weeks at a time without my attention. Please be patient with those trying to assist you.

I have not seen this occur before with plain water in a few hours. Especially on the handle. You'll have to send it in to us to go any further with the problem.

sal

thalium · #11

hey no water is plain it contains chlorine, fluorine and various metal ions,havent you wondered why people in your area arent dying of cholera, the gov chlorinate the water to kill bacteria this is what would have reacted with your knife so never leave anyhting metal in water ever.

Marty · #12

I asked the same question to a sailor one time because I noticed the stainless steel parts on his boat had some rust. He told me that stainless steel can get some rust but that it would come off easy with polish or steel wool. Since then when I get rust on my stainless steel knives, I just use the scotch-bright pads from the kitchen sponge.

copilotboy · #13

thanks marty. i'll go try that.

brandon

clipiteer · #14

Not to be rude,Copilotboy, but if your question was for Sal and no one else the why didn't you e-mail him instead of posting it for everyone to see? By the way, give your knife my regards.

Edited by - clipiteer on 5/22/2001 7:19:17 AM