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S35VN staining?

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So far I've purchased every massdrop/Ferrum forge collaboration, Great deal on some pretty great knives but I've had an issue with the blade staining on my crux has anyone had this issue and what does massdrop do in a situation like that?

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DaveyDoodle
13
Apr 30, 2019
Here's a little tidbit about stainless steels - they aren't. I'm an engineer (sorry...) My son-in-law bought a hunting rifle with a stainless barrel and was surprised to see his finger print etched on the barrel. Sweat will do that. All grades of steel are susceptible to salt, even expensive industrial stainless. (Google "chloride stress corrosion cracking" for more info than you want to know.) Blades still need to be rinsed and wiped clean after exposure to salt, sweat, blood, or fruit and vegetable juice. Modern steels won't rust like carbon steel but they will show cosmetic corrosion.
reswright
3850
Apr 28, 2019
1) Am I the only guy here who eats steak using a steak knife? 2) the more satiny or stone-washy the surface, the more metal is exposed to air per square cm, and the more liquid can be trapped in the rough surface of the metal. they look flat but at the microscopic level these finishes are mighty 3D. That surface is like a sponge, compared to polished steel. And it'll act like one. Think of all the kitchen knives you've seen -- are most of them velvety? or polished? The latter, right? Well, that's one reason why. 3) These finishes are nice for hiding signs of hard use, but by the same token they're used to cover up all kinds of mistakes by the knifemaker and all sorts of damage to the blade that occurred during manufacture. It's easy to see minor irregularities in mirror polish steel, it's harder to see them with satin, and it's nigh impossible to see them in stonewash. Bad grind, buckled surface, scratches and dents -- it all turns into a nice smooth velvety looking surface. It's why I usually want to get a polished blade the first time i'm checking out a manufacturer. 4) Similar to that, i think there's better and worse ways to go about putting a surface texture on these blades, and that some manufacturers have a really good system, and some are just shaking the steel around in a bin full of rocks, no real science to it, no uniformity, no real institutional knowledge on how to make a proper knife or how to put a surface treatment on it. I don't think it's quite as big a discriminator in having a good heat treatment or well thought out blade geometry that matches your steel, but I do think it matters which manufacturer is doing the surface treatment, and even what shift in their factory turned out the work.
Omniseed
1972
Mar 3, 2019
It's got a fairly coarse satin, so you have to actually clean it or it can discolor a bit. The steel is quite corrosion resistant, so most of what you are seeing is likely some combination of your skin oils and residue from whatever you've been cutting.
TXL1967
12
Mar 2, 2019
I have two versions of the crux, zero issues with the blades staining.
14themoney
1395
Feb 28, 2019
I'll let you know if I every get mine. I think it's on back order. No. Make that WAY back order.
method_burger
563
Jul 2, 2018
It's a surface finish issue. I have the exact same problem. Use flitz polishing compoound.
The surface finish is really rough, which makes corrossion easy to set (it looks like the black corrosion which is fine, as long as it is not the red/yellow stuff because that'll start eating your blade). I basically just polished everything to an 800grit, but an easy way is to just use flitz , and do a little bit of rubbing. Flitz is pretty great, I used to use this stuff to prevent bead-blasted knives from rusting
Gshock
2
Jul 2, 2018
method_burgerCool thanks👍🏻
fhood
715
Jun 27, 2018
Huh, that is interesting. I haven't had any issues with patina on my s35vn knives, but I don't tend to use any of them that hard. I have had staining on some vg-10 stuff though, and that has less carbon than s35vn, so I wouldn't consider a bit of patina unusual. Particularly if it wasn't cleaned for 24 hours or so after use on something acidic or salty.
namhod
1991
Jun 26, 2018
Eating medium rare steak put a bit of a patina on my Crux and my Gent. I have read several other issues with the S35VN discoloring on the Massdrop collabs.
A toothbrush and toothpaste will scrub it off with hardly any elbow grease. If that fails try some Flitz stainless steel polish.
Make sure to clean the knife after use. Or just embrace the patina. It won't hurt the knife at all.
Remember kids, it is StainLESS steel, not Stainnever, it stains less.
Gshock
2
Jun 26, 2018
namhodI've had quite a few s35vn blades for years and never had this issue...
namhod
1991
Jun 27, 2018
GshockThis has been hashed and rehashed on all the major forums of your choice. I recommend checking out the link erickong posted below. It's long, but most likely all of the questions you have are already answered there.
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