Hey all,
Hmnnn.... where to begin??? First off, carbon makes iron steel, and gives it strength, but not much hardness. Hardness works both ways. It makes a knife harder to sharpen, but more likely to retain its edge while working. Many people complain about a knife not holding its edge, when in actuality they have never put a proper edge on it to begin with. The Chromium that is used in the manufacture of most stainless steels, not only replaces some carbon which is how it inhibits rust, but it also adds hardness to the steel alloy as well. A hard steel is NOT a strong steel. Hard=Brittle!!! The angles for sharpening a stainless steel knife are also different and an aggressive stone must be first employed to get the shape just right. I use four diamond impregnated hones to accomplish all of my knife sharpening, and never ever leave them with a wire edge.
As for the treatment of a knife's surface, please be careful. Most knives are "case hardened" which means that just the outer layer of the steel (alloy) has been hardened by one of various processes (arsenic and heat being the most traditional). This usually means most of the blade has been hardened (where its thin), but not necessarily the underlying body (core) of the knife. If you polish/grind too much you will be exposing the softer alloy. BTW, as hardening makes an alloy more brittle, having the core of the knife not hardened preserves a good bit of its strength.
A better method is to use petroleum jelly per instructions, and then the "neutralizer" that actually bonds with the metal. This will preserve the metal of the knife, and will still inhibit the rusting process. Yes, your knife may have pits in it and not be a show piece. Oh well
you shoulda thought of that way before you took it in diving, Chester. IDs comment about slathering it with any silicone product is good.
As an aside, knives are about the only things that are case hardened. Bolts are NEVER hardened, much less Case Hardened (See the Hard=Brittle note above). Bolts come in various grades, denoted by a number on their head or a series of raised bars. Each grade denotes a certain strength (usually expressed in KIPs), with the higher grade meaning greater strength. Grade 5 bolts are the most common, and most of us have seen the familiar three bars on the head that indicate this grade (don't even ask). Bolts are designed and graded as to their shear strength. Tensile strength is hardly ever a factor.
And, uh Joe... here's that knife you stuck in my back earlier... :tease:
Just like the non-military k-bars. This way the ONLY thing that CAN rust is the edge itself, if you keep it sharp you won't have to worry about that.
