Spyderco Forums

As others here have noted, while H-1 steel is very tough and resilient (And almost magically rust-proof!), if the steel on a knife like the Pacific Salt scratches, am I right in that will NOT have bad effects on its overall performance, or, will the scratches degrade its use as a rust resistant cutting tool? I am leaning towards a "no, it won't hurt the overall performance", but, what do those here who have experience with the scratches on the blade surface say?

SpyderEdgeForever wrote:As others here have noted, while H-1 steel is very tough and resilient (And almost magically rust-proof!), if the steel on a knife like the Pacific Salt scratches, am I right in that will NOT have bad effects on its overall performance, or, will the scratches degrade its use as a rust resistant cutting tool? I am leaning towards a "no, it won't hurt the overall performance", but, what do those here who have experience with the scratches on the blade surface say?

Just cosmetic......

Are you asking if the scratches would make it less stainless? If so, I would say probably not. A polished finished is a benefit on carbon steels but I don't think scratches on h1 would be a place to encourage corrosion to start.

If it was rust resistant due to cladding steels around the core (Or a coating) and the scratches were deep enough to penetrate to the less rust resistant core (I'd classify them more likely as gouges at that point), the answer might be maybe. H1 is solid the whole way through, and is just as rust resistant at the core as it is on the outside, so even if you had a gouge that passed all the way through the entire blade (Not sure how you'd accomplish this in acceptable use), it still wouldn't be any more rust prone. Purely a cosmetic issue, and I wouldn't even call it an issue unless talking about a safe queen.

To be technical and split hairs, scratches actually increase the surface area on anything, and those recesses do contribute to rust on steels that aren't rust free if not properly looked after. A stonewashed blade has more surface area than a polished blade for example. With H1 though, it isn't going to rust anyway do the scratches just add character.

I have generally taken a Scotchbrite pad to my H-1 after a time to give it a faux-stonewash and mask the tiny scratches...mine are fairly seriously neglected and have not seen any rust at all....

I've got a number of salts with scratched up satin blades, I've never noticed any difference in use over the years. I will say however, my black coated pac salt doesn't slice as well as my salt 1, but I'm guessing this is just due to the coating as they're both razors when they come off my sharpmaker.

spyderHS08 wrote:I've got a number of salts with scratched up satin blades, I've never noticed any difference in use over the years. I will say however, my black coated pac salt doesn't slice as well as my salt 1, but I'm guessing this is just due to the coating as they're both razors when they come off my sharpmaker.

I've never heard of a coating effecting cutting performance. Could the bevels be set differently, or maybe the salt 1 is thinner behind the edge.

Scratches have never caused me to notice any change in performance of my salts.

Holland wrote:

spyderHS08 wrote:I've got a number of salts with scratched up satin blades, I've never noticed any difference in use over the years. I will say however, my black coated pac salt doesn't slice as well as my salt 1, but I'm guessing this is just due to the coating as they're both razors when they come off my sharpmaker.

I've never heard of a coating effecting cutting performance. Could the bevels be set differently, or maybe the salt 1 is thinner behind the edge.

Scratches have never caused me to notice any change in performance of my salts.

For me there always was a noticeable difference between my DLC Para 2 and satin Para 2. The satin always felt smoother through things like cardboard.

Exactly. The DLC has more friction than the satin blade as it slides through the cardboard. Thick corrugated presses vey hard indeed on the sides of a knife cutting it, so the effect is significant. It seems to me the only advantage of DLC on H-1 (or most stainless steels) is light discipline. Since light discipline isn't a factor in my use scenarios, I stick with satin blades.

Bill1170 wrote:Exactly. The DLC has more friction than the satin blade as it slides through the cardboard. Thick corrugated presses vey hard indeed on the sides of a knife cutting it, so the effect is significant. It seems to me the only advantage of DLC on H-1 (or most stainless steels) is light discipline. Since light discipline isn't a factor in my use scenarios, I stick with satin blades.

This...it has a coarser finish and will create more friction when cutting materials that load significantly on the sides of the blade, like cardboard. It's also why people report that their DLC blades aren't as smooth opening as their satin counterparts (Nothing wrong with the knife...just more friction against the washers and/or handles depending on construction). I can understand the need for light discipline, but I think that in the real world coatings are more utilized for corrosion protection more often than light discipline.

I have been using a Salt 1 at work on and off for the past year or so; putting it through ****. it gets no oiling just a rinse with water once in a while. It does see a strop or sharpmaker more often than other knives. It is scratched to crap, it has been exposed to rain and humid environments. Until now never seen any rust on the scratched surface just a little on the H1 logo easily removed with oil and fine steel wool.

The hole in the blade exposes the full cross section of the steel.
I haven't seen any rust forming on my se hawkbill lady bug around the inside of the hole.
So in my opinion a scratch would not make is less rust proof.
But don't quote me on this though :) as I'm no steel expert.

The only way you will see rust on H-1 is if a particle of another steel somehow gets embedded in the blade and rusts. AFAIK, H-1 cannot "rust" in the conventional (red oxide of iron) sense. It will corrode if exposed long enough to strong enough corrosives, the kind you would not expose your skin to intentionally unless you were a masochist, but the product of that corrosion will be an oxide of iron other than the red oxides.