Help in battle with rust

No matter what I do most of my carbon knives end up rusting in a matter of hours. I can get them clean and shiny with BKF, let them dry, oil them, and the next morning the thin layer of rust is back. I know that I live close to the ocean but is there any solution to this.

Am I limited to stainless forever?

Thanks for reading

How are the knives stored?

What kind of oil and what kind of knives?

A little Tabuki (sp?) oil after clean and dry works for me on most quality carbon. Moritaka, Takeda, and a couple others would rather rust than cut. They don't live here anymore.

Or you can Upgrade to quality stainless or stainless clad.

Have you tried a forced patina?

Knifes stored in magnetic strip or in knife block.

Oil being used is Japanese camellia oil from Korin.

Thanks.

Knives:

Haburn
Kato
Takeda
Marko
Others

Storing the knives in their boxes would help as they would not be exposed to the humidity and salinity in the air.
You could also try forcing a patina on the blades as it will greatly reduce reactivity (on most of the knives).

Get some anti rust paper and wrap the blades after cleaning, drying, oiling.
KS-VCI antirust paper

BKF is acidic; try neutralizing it with baking soda prior to oiling. Also, do the final rinse in the hottest water you can get and let the residual heat completely dry them prior to oiling.

Do not use BKF, just get some polishing powder/paste (Simichrome works great), or when you next time flatten your stones do that without water and store the powder. 6000 grit removes patina very fast and does not leave scratches.

Pensacola Tiger said:

BKF is acidic; try neutralizing it with baking soda prior to oiling. Also, do the final rinse in the hottest water you can get and let the residual heat completely dry them prior to oiling.

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Once again, Rick nailed it...I'd even try skipping the oil...

Thanks guys. Will give it a go over the weekend and report results.

For a different view of the problem rather than anything practical:

I had heard of this book the other day, but have not read it yet.
http://www.amazon.com/Rust-Longest-War-Jonathan-Waldman/dp/1451691599/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441230152&sr=8-1&keywords=rust

One of the blurbs describing the book says that over $400 billion a year is spent in the US alone battling rust. I am sure many on the forum are fighters in the battle to keep all that pure metal from oxidizing back into its natural state. :knight:

Sentry Solutions make a product called Tuf Cloth which I believe leaves a residue free, very fine silicon coating. Some say that this is much better than oiling. Friend of mine who is very into shooting uses it on blued steel shotgun barrels. He lives by the sea and swears by it. Never tried it myself but readily available from peanuts from Amazon.

If you want your knives clean and shiny get quality stainless. :whistling:

keithsaltydog said:

If you want your knives clean and shiny get quality stainless. :whistling:

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Keith, not looking for shiny but certainly looking for not rusty!

Delpo I live near the ocean also. Sounds like you have some really nice blades. Never had rust problems at work with carbons because using them everyday. Only oiled them when go on vacation. I would let my gyuto's & Cleavers form a patina naturally which would not take long cutting many cases of pineapple and tomato's every week.

At home different story I have some nice carbons. I have forced patina on some to keep them from rusting. My carbon work cleavers sold them all after retired took too much effort not worth it.

In your case the knives you like to use I would think about forcing a patina. Wash after use with dish soap & HOT water. If not using for a while being near the ocean oil them. If you try to clean the knives back to new state you are in a losing battle the blade will keep rusting because it does not have a protective patina.

Knives you store some good info. in this thread. Good Luck

The Tuf Cloth is great but rather smelly and I am quite sure not suitable to to get in contact with food.

Woops did read most of the posts, looks like people saw the rusting is caused from your BKF is being left on the metal because you are not washing off the knife with soap and water after. Also I've found that rusting occurs faster on parts that were not polished (not mirror polish).