rust on cts-xhp

[drewskeez]

Has anyone else had rust show up on there xhp knives nothing major just some very small putting

[wvguy8258]

Mine has been used for light duty and handled and only wiped off with a cloth. No rust. Do you perhaps have the evil rust inducing sweat type others speak of?

[Cheddarnut]

Has anyone else had rust show up on there xhp knives nothing major just some very small putting

All my spydies get a hole in one.

[Ankerson]

None on mine and I treat it like a red headed step child.

[sal]

Hey Jim,

You treat all of your knives like "red headed step children".

Hey Drewskeez,

Where do you live? What have you cut? Do you keep it close to your skin and do you perspire? (Animals sweat, men perspire, women glow).

sal

[Ankerson]

Hey Jim,

You treat all of your knives like "red headed step children".

Hey Drewskeez,

Where do you live? What have you cut? Do you keep it close to your skin and do you perspire? (Animals sweat, men perspire, women glow).

sal

Hi Sal,

Well you know how it is. :D :spyder:

Jim

[Leatherneck]

I had a red-headed, putting Irishman show up on my porch the other day. I kicked him off, cleaned the porch and that took care of that!

[Dankerz]

My Manix XHP has a small rust spot where it says "Golden" on the blade. I live in Denver but never wore it out in the snow. I haven't really used it much since I got it. I am wondering if I left the blade wet after I sharpened it with the edge-pro. Either way, it is by far my favorite steel. It just won't go dull!

[mikerestivo]

I have had no trouble with any of my blades.

[Blerv]

My M4 doesn't even patina on it's own. *shrug*

[jabba359]

After closely inspecting mine, I found a little rust on my XHP Manix hidden down in the notch of the back of the blade, just in front of where the ball lock engages. It was pretty minor and I used a Q-tip dipped in alcohol to wipe it out, then rubbed it with the dry end of the Q-tip. Looks like I got all the rust off, but will keep my eyes on it. I live in the Los Angeles area, so perhaps my proximity to the ocean was the cause. Since I don't carry it that often, and when I do it's not next to my skin, I doubt it's sweat related. I also have never treated my knives with any sort of lubricant, oil, rust prevention cloth, or anything.

The only other rust I've seen on my Spydies is inside the spyderhole of my S30V Millie, but that was likely caused by using it for food prep, washing it, and forgetting to dry out inside the hole on multiple occasions. Once discovered, I lightly sanded it off and now make sure to sufficiently dry it off. No rust ever since. Also, I noticed rust on the liners of my Sage 1 when I pulled off the scales. I'll have to take it apart and sand that off and polish it (maybe I'll coat it with Tuf-glide since the liners never come in contact with food).

[DCDesigns]

I wouldnt really expect xhp to be rust prone from the make up. 16% chromium. It doesnt look like it has that much of other carbide formers though, so is it possible that the chromium it has is being used up for carbides, and leaves little "free chromium" to fight off corrosion?

[Cheddarnut]

Maybe its not rust, it could be X(amount) of HP sauce.

[Bolster]

Yes.

I was surprised to see a few spots of discoloration or oxidation on my Manix. I must have used it on something moist and not wiped it. I actually buffed it out because it was bothering me. I'm now careful with that knife.

I've not gotten anything similar on other Spyders I own. Also from L.A., near the sea.

[JB3]

So what's the consensus here? Will cts-xhp rust significantly?
Does it need to be treated like a non-stainless tool steel?
Wish I had a Techno so I could check it out ... sigh

OK ... this from a Carpenter Technical Data Sheet ...
CTS-XHP® alloy is an air-hardening, high carbon, high chromium, corrosion resistant alloy.
It can be considered either a high hardness stainless steel or a corrosion-resistant tool steel.
CTSXHP alloy resists corrosion in normal domestic environments and very mild industrial environments, including many petroleum products and organic materials.
For optimum corrosion resistance, surfaces must be free of scale and foreign particles and
finished parts should be passivated.
Passivated? (had to go to the dictionary on this one ... "to treat (a metal) to render the surface less reactive chemically")
Data Sheet seems pretty ambiguous as to how much rust to expect from it as compared to other steels.

[Scottie3000]

i've never had a problem with anything except ZDP.

[Blerv]

Regardless of our experiences with XHP it still falls in a particular corrosion resistance place on the chart. If you find it rusts easily placing higher importance on rust proof knives would be wise. If you don't see carbon blades patina/rust under normal use the benefit is very obvious to disregarding corrosion properties.

CTS-XHP was originally described by Spyderco as a stainless equivalent to D2 (which is deemed a semi-stainless among tool steels). A few knifes rusting under certain use is understandable but doesn't reclassify the steel (for me). Generally rust-prone steels are tougher or more wear resistant so if anything this is good news.

[gbelleh]

I haven't had any rust problems on my XHP Manix 2 or Military, and I've carried the Military a lot. The only steel I've had rust/pitting with is M4, with only light carry and use.
I've since treated all my M4 with Tuf-Glide, and have had no more problems. Now, I might go ahead and treat my XHP blades too.

[drewskeez]

Hey Jim,

You treat all of your knives like "red headed step children".

Hey Drewskeez,

Where do you live? What have you cut? Do you keep it close to your skin and do you perspire? (Animals sweat, men perspire, women glow).

sal

I carry it in rfp and and live in NC. I polished the blade about a month ago since then I have not seen anymore rust. But it could be from sweaty hands I had that problem with my GB i'm the summer
And a big thanks to sal and the spider cure for all the hard work that put in for us

[jabba359]

So what's the consensus here? Will cts-xhp rust significantly?
Does it need to be treated like a non-stainless tool steel?

Despite finding the very minor surface rust in a very small area on mine, I'd say that it won't rust significantly. The likeliest culprit may have been a tiny bit of water got on there after I used it for food prep and cleaned it, and then I missed that small crevice when drying. I will continue to treat CTS-XHP exactly as I do VG-10 and S30V. Of course, I don't really even treat my ZDP any different either, except to make sure I clean it ASAP after cutting food instead of letting it sit for 5 or 10 minutes (to avoid staining or patina).