Rusty Knife

[RJH]

I've got an old bread knife that's rusted slightly - no pitting, but most of
the blade is discoloured with a fine coating of rust. This happened since it
went in the dishwasher - don't think it's happened before in its 100-odd
years.

I think it's just ordinary steel - it's quite dull and marked 'Sheffield
Steel'. And it's incredibly sharp and cuts bread like nothing else so I'd like
to keep it if possible.

What would be the best way to remove the rust and stop it happening again?
--
Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

[Andy Burns]

RJH wrote:

> I've got an old bread knife that's rusted slightly - no pitting,

> What would be the best way to remove the rust

rub with some viakal on a cloth (wear rubber gloves)

> and stop it happening again?

pass.

[Chris Green]

RJH <patch...@gmx.com> wrote:
>
> What would be the best way to remove the rust and stop it happening again?

Just clean it up with a nylon scourer and then use it. A bit of rust
won't do you any harm! ;-)

--
Chris Green
·

[Tim+]

RJH <patch...@gmx.com> wrote:
> I've got an old bread knife that's rusted slightly - no pitting, but most of
> the blade is discoloured with a fine coating of rust. This happened since it
> went in the dishwasher - don't think it's happened before in its 100-odd
> years.
>
> I think it's just ordinary steel - it's quite dull and marked 'Sheffield
> Steel'. And it's incredibly sharp and cuts bread like nothing else so I'd like
> to keep it if possible.
>
> What would be the best way to remove the rust

Scouring pad.

> and stop it happening again?

Don’t put it in the dishwasher again. I think superficial rust is a sign
of the plating wearing thin. Not much you can do short of replating to stop
it rusting again.

It’s happening to quite a lot of our cutlery now. It’s so superficial and
easily removed I don’t worry about it now.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

[Tim Lamb]

In message <jj88vj-1...@esprimo.zbmc.eu>, Chris Green <c...@isbd.net>
writes

:-)

Around 1970, my new wife purchased 8 sets of cutlery which turned out to
be manufactured in Japan.

Still in use but.. occasionally the knife blades show patches of rust
after cleaning in the dishwasher. The other items are always spotless.

Our metallurgists will no doubt correct me but I assume the blades are a
different stainless composition to allow hardening. Combined with heat
and whatever chemicals are found in dishwashers the *stainless* feature
is defeated. Rubs off easily but offends the catering dept.:-)
>

--
Tim Lamb

[Sam Plusnet]

We get that (I've assumed there to be some electrolytic reaction between
adjacent bits of cutlery in the doshwisher).
SWMBO then chucks the spotty item over to me - since she assumes a hand
wash will erase rust marks.

It took a decade to get over the:
"It can't be a rust mark. Stainless_ steel doesn't rust."
argument.

--
Sam Plusnet

[ajh]

On 07/10/2023 18:27, Tim Lamb wrote:

>
> Our metallurgists will no doubt correct me but I assume the blades are a
> different stainless composition to allow hardening. Combined with heat
> and whatever chemicals are found in dishwashers the *stainless* feature
> is defeated. Rubs off easily but offends the catering dept.:-)
>>
>

Not a metallurgist but stainless forms a thin layer of chromium oxide
which then stops oxygen attacking any iron atoms in the lattice. Mild
scouring from a dishwasher powder may remove the oxide layer. Dilute
acids do the same.

[alan_m]

On 07/10/2023 18:27, Tim Lamb wrote:

I have a set of 30 year old Japanese manufactured chef's knives. No
dishwasher but the only two show rust. One has a flaw on the spine were
a spot of rust of approx 1mm diameter appears and is easily removed with
a scouring pad*. It's only in the last 10 years that this spot of rust
has shown up. The other blade that is prone to some very minor surface
rust is the very flexible blade designed for filleting fish (etc.). I
assume this blade is a different metal composition. Rust only occurs if
the blade is left anytime still wet. This blade is usually fully dried
straight after washing and not left in te cutlery pot to drain and dry
off naturally. Again, any rust is easily removed with a scouring pad*.

*Scouring (balls) I use
<https://www.amazon.co.uk/Skylarks-Scrubber-Stainless-Cleaning-Transparent/dp/B01BD788AC>

Note: with Christmas only a few months away these
"Come in White Transparent Plastic Gift Box"

They are pound shop type products - 6 for £1.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

[Brian]

A little vinegar and a good rinse.

Putting good knives - rather than cutlery- in a dishwasher is best avoided.

[Tim Lamb]

In message <kof1n3...@mid.individual.net>, alan_m
<ju...@admac.myzen.co.uk> writes

Hmm.. Recipe for a weeks bread and water here. *Useful* gifts are
outlawed!

--
Tim Lamb

[Brian Gaff]

It could be that if it were plated that the plating has now worn off with
sharpening or cleaning and basically its now down to the steel at the
business edge.

Brian

--

--:
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...
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Blind user, so no pictures please
Note this Signature is meaningless.!
"Andy Burns" <use...@andyburns.uk> wrote in message
news:kodaah...@mid.individual.net...

[AnthonyL]

On Sat, 7 Oct 2023 19:57:38 +0100, Sam Plusnet <n...@home.com> wrote:

>
>It took a decade to get over the:
>"It can't be a rust mark. Stainless_ steel doesn't rust."
>argument.
>

A mantra from our metallurgy lectures doing Mech Eng in the 60's was
that items sold as stainless steel wer often neither stainless nor
steel.


--
AnthonyL

Why ever wait to finish a job before starting the next?

[maus]

On 2023-10-08, AnthonyL <nos...@please.invalid> wrote:
> On Sat, 7 Oct 2023 19:57:38 +0100, Sam Plusnet <n...@home.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>It took a decade to get over the:
>>"It can't be a rust mark. Stainless_ steel doesn't rust."
>>argument.
>>
>
> A mantra from our metallurgy lectures doing Mech Eng in the 60's was
> that items sold as stainless steel wer often neither stainless nor
> steel.
>
>

I remember walking into my supplier and asking about stainless steel,
upon which the assistant pulled a thick book from under that counter;

"What sort?."


--
grey...@mail.com
Death to the Influencers, hung, drawn and Quartered is more than they deserve.
Meantime, back at the Estancia, etc.

[Max Demian]

On 08/10/2023 14:42, maus wrote:
> On 2023-10-08, AnthonyL <nos...@please.invalid> wrote:
>> On Sat, 7 Oct 2023 19:57:38 +0100, Sam Plusnet <n...@home.com> wrote:

>>> It took a decade to get over the:
>>> "It can't be a rust mark. Stainless_ steel doesn't rust."
>>> argument.

>> A mantra from our metallurgy lectures doing Mech Eng in the 60's was
>> that items sold as stainless steel wer often neither stainless nor
>> steel.

> I remember walking into my supplier and asking about stainless steel,
> upon which the assistant pulled a thick book from under that counter;
>
> "What sort?."

Well some is magnetic and some isn't.

--
Max Demian

[Cursitor Doom]

On Sat, 7 Oct 2023 14:15:50 -0000 (UTC), RJH <patch...@gmx.com>
wrote:

I thoroughly admire your determination to keep this knife in service,
sir!
However, I'm confused here. If it's a breadknife and it's 100 years
old, surely all its teeth have worn away over that timeframe. The fact
that it still cuts at all is something of a miracle, let alone it cuts
like nothing else!

[Peter Able]

I was confused, too. It must be something to do with how I read but I
was tripped up by the words "dull" and "sharp".

I've a bread knife over 50 years old, and it is as it was when new.
Bright and sharp. Mind you, I've only been using it to cut bread.

https://www.google.com/search?q=killed+with+bread+knife

[Sam Plusnet]

The breadknife most often employed in this house was once part of my
Mother's 'bottom drawer' items, collected in the late 1930s (so OK, not
100 years yet).
Over the years it has been terribly abused (once used to cut down a
privet hedge that had grown out of bounds) but still cuts very well.
It has very fine teeth which were evidently hand finished - judging by
the uneven spacing in some places.
Made in Sheffield (of course) but the maker's name has worn off.

--
Sam Plusnet

[Animal]

On Saturday, 7 October 2023 at 15:15:55 UTC+1, RJH wrote:
> I've got an old bread knife that's rusted slightly - no pitting, but most of
> the blade is discoloured with a fine coating of rust. This happened since it
> went in the dishwasher - don't think it's happened before in its 100-odd
> years.
>
> I think it's just ordinary steel - it's quite dull and marked 'Sheffield
> Steel'. And it's incredibly sharp and cuts bread like nothing else so I'd like
> to keep it if possible.
>
> What would be the best way to remove the rust

mild acid eg citric and/or scourer

> and stop it happening again?

Avoid wetting it, wipe dry whenever it gets wet. Wipe with veg oil.
The Victorian rotary knife cleaners show the lengths they went to to avoid wet cleaning & remove rust.

[SteveW]

Yes. My kitcar has a bare, stainless-steel, monocoque body (and it has
not rusted in 26 years). Magnets do stick to the body.

[RJH]

On 8 Oct 2023 at 19:29:32 BST, Peter Able wrote:

> On 08/10/2023 16:41, Cursitor Doom wrote:
>> On Sat, 7 Oct 2023 14:15:50 -0000 (UTC), RJH <patch...@gmx.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I've got an old bread knife that's rusted slightly - no pitting, but most of
>>> the blade is discoloured with a fine coating of rust. This happened since it
>>> went in the dishwasher - don't think it's happened before in its 100-odd
>>> years.
>>>
>>> I think it's just ordinary steel - it's quite dull and marked 'Sheffield
>>> Steel'. And it's incredibly sharp and cuts bread like nothing else so I'd like
>>> to keep it if possible.
>>>
>>> What would be the best way to remove the rust and stop it happening again?
>>
>> I thoroughly admire your determination to keep this knife in service,
>> sir!
>> However, I'm confused here. If it's a breadknife and it's 100 years
>> old, surely all its teeth have worn away over that timeframe. The fact
>> that it still cuts at all is something of a miracle, let alone it cuts
>> like nothing else!
>
> I was confused, too. It must be something to do with how I read but I
> was tripped up by the words "dull" and "sharp".
>

It's not shiny (like stainless) but is extraordinarily sharp - at least as
effective as the Victorinox sertated bread knife I inexplicably lost in a
recent house move.

> I've a bread knife over 50 years old, and it is as it was when new.
> Bright and sharp. Mind you, I've only been using it to cut bread.
>
> https://www.google.com/search?q=killed+with+bread+knife

As has this, so far as I know :-) It was my gramdmother's (born around 1900).