Eric Pikey Report post Posted October 9, 2015 So I sent a prototype sheath to a knife maker for testing. He put a finished knife in it, and after two minutes found that the knife had small pitting all over the blade. No rust to speak of, just pitting. He describes it a something that salt or acid would do to steel. The knife is of 01 tool steel, and only had a light coat of WD40 on it. The sheath was of veggie tanned leather. The inside of the sheath had been stained with Eco Flo water based stain, timber brown and applied with a Preval sprayer system. All of the above bought from Tandy. The attached image shown is AFTER and attempt by the maker to polish out the pitting. I'm at a loss. Can anybody help me identify the cause of this problem? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electrathon Report post Posted October 9, 2015 I suspect the blade was already pitted. An acid strong enough to eat hardened 01 in two minutes would attack your skin in a few seconds. The inside of the sheath should also be solid gray/black if it caused it, a vinageroon effect. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toney Report post Posted October 9, 2015 Ive got mine in a chrome tanned sheath, been in thre for years without any rust. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Art Report post Posted October 9, 2015 So I sent a prototype sheath to a knife maker for testing. He put a finished knife in it, and after two minutes found that the knife had small pitting all over the blade. No rust to speak of, just pitting. He describes it a something that salt or acid would do to steel. The knife is of 01 tool steel, and only had a light coat of WD40 on it. The sheath was of veggie tanned leather. The inside of the sheath had been stained with Eco Flo water based stain, timber brown and applied with a Preval sprayer system. All of the above bought from Tandy. The attached image shown is AFTER and attempt by the maker to polish out the pitting. I'm at a loss. Can anybody help me identify the cause of this problem? B.S. Pure unadulterated B.S.; the pitting is all the way up to the scales. And two minutes? Give me a break, nobody has acid powerful enough to pit something in two minutes. My suggestion is to let us know how to avoid this guy. There is an old machinist/knifemakers tale that O1 will rust from looking at it. It will however, get surface rust overnight if not protected (oiled etc). If left that way, without intervention, pitting will start (that means no longer surface rust) in a day or two more. This type of pitting looks remarkable similar to what we see here. Any competent knifemaker can polish that out in a short time. For really severe cases (this is not one of them) a minor regrind may be in order. I guess what everyone is saying (except maybe the "knifemaker"), is that you didn't cause this. Art Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChuckBurrows Report post Posted October 9, 2015 I'd agree with Art (and FWIW I'm a custom knife maker as well as leather crafter and have been since 1971). 1) O 1 steel is infamous for staining and eventually pitting if not properly cared for. 2) Even nitric won't cause pits that fast One suggestion - if you're going to dye the inside finish it as well with a good acrylic type finish before assembly - even plain veg tan (at a PH of 4.5-5, neutral is making even veg tan acidic) can cause staining pitting especially when wet - Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JLSleather Report post Posted October 9, 2015 0-1 gets pretty hard, pretty quickly.. but NOT known for corrosion resistance. We used to make "down and dirty" shop tools from it (like , you needed a particular size punch in a hurry) but not sure why an "experienced" knife maker would be using it. Better to go with an air hardening A- or even D- type steel. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mlapaglia Report post Posted October 9, 2015 Ask him to send you a clean piece of the steel and the sheath. Do your own test Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eric Pikey Report post Posted October 9, 2015 Just to clear the air, this maker did his own testing on unfinished blanks and two other finished knives and couldn't repeat the effect. On his own, he's concluded that he must have forgotten to oil the knife after its final polish and not noticed the pitting when he grabbed it to test the fit of my sheath. For the record, he seems like a stand up guy. Thanks to all you who responded! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
camano ridge Report post Posted October 9, 2015 (edited) I am glad he clarified things for you. I am a knife maker and sheath maker. No way are things going to happen the way he first described. However if you notice he has a logo or what ever it is supposed to be there is no doubt that is acid etched. O would say he is right it had nothing to do with your sheath. It was there before he put it in the sheath and did not notice it. Any acid strong enough to pit metal in two minutes would have destroyed sheath. Edited October 9, 2015 by camano ridge Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ChuckBurrows Report post Posted October 10, 2015 0-1 gets pretty hard, pretty quickly.. but NOT known for corrosion resistance. We used to make "down and dirty" shop tools from it (like , you needed a particular size punch in a hurry) but not sure why an "experienced" knife maker would be using it. Better to go with an air hardening A- or even D- type steel. Many EXPERIENCED makers use 0 1 for a blade because it makes an excellent one and is much easier to harden without specialized equipment. Non-corrosive steels are used by many but 95% of the pro chefs I've made knives for, much prefer plain non-stainless for use. Hi-carbon non-stainless knives are extremely popular for many other reasons as well. For instance I make only high end historically inspired knives mostly from the early 1800's and using anything but a non-stainless such as 1084 (my favorite and the closest modern steel to those used in the past) or 01 would be wrong, especially for my customer base who are sticklers for keeping things as authentic as possible. Plus I've made around 3,000 sheaths for OTC hi-carbon hunting knives, including the classics such as Marbles and the older German knives and done right they've never caused a problem as long as the customer treats the pair properly (like not leaving it in the sheath covered in blood). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
humperdingle Report post Posted October 10, 2015 (edited) Get him to put a (photographed) polished blank into the sheath and then re-photograph. As someone else said, it was probably there all along. Doh... Really should have read the whole thread! Edited October 10, 2015 by humperdingle Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kulafarmer Report post Posted December 16, 2015 Sounds like you would be better to not deal with this person Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TexasJack Report post Posted December 17, 2015 A friend of mine made several knives out of O1 that were carried - and heavily abused - in Afghanistan. They looked better than the one in your photo. What the others have said is absolutely true, that pitting is far too heavy to be caused by veg tan. It's a terrible finish on the blade under the best of circumstances, and he obviously acid-etched that logo. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
okiwen Report post Posted December 17, 2015 I'm with Chuck and Art...well, and everyone else. just smells like nonsense and bs. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
