o-1 stain resistance

Gahagan

Well-Known Member
I am making a custom knife for my step father and it is mostly going to be a display piece. It is 6" wide a points and 12"long. I really cant afford a good stainless in this size byut have seen o1 in this size for a reasonable price. My question is how resistant to rust is o-1 I know it is a tool steel but will it hold up as a display piece with little care?
 
As a display knife it should look as good as the day Made unless you live in a lighthouse off shore. The a little maintenance might be required
 
Prior to putting it on display, I would recommend a good coat of automotive type paste wax.....that will do wonders for keeping it looking pristine.
 
I'm sure Ed is right, put a coat of wax on it as soon as it's all polished up and nice and clean. Much like guitars, sometimes people worry a bit too much about knives going to heck in their living room or den. If the room is comfortable for you, temp and humidity-wise, it's probably just fine for a quality blade or instrument. Of course garages, basements and attics that may see wide fluctuations in temp and humidity are a much different story, and no one recommends storing a knife long-term in a leather sheath.
 
I couple coats of wax to start with and coat again once a year should keep it shiny. If it gets handled, wipe it down to avoid fingerprints.
 
Wax is good, 01 is not stain resistant much at all. Light oil can work - may have to maintain it a little more often that with wax. I have noticed that the higher the polish on 01, the more it seems to resist corrosion. But this could be an artifact from the buffing wax....
 
Hey Gahagan,

I've pretty much been using O-1 exclusively since 2002. If heat treated properly, it's a great steel, holds an edge well, and will weather better than most people think.

I usually just polish my knives from time to time with a knife polish. As a test, I polished a knife up good, and decided I would not clean it for a year.

I carried it probably 3 or 4 days a week during that time without doing any cleaning on it. The one thing I did was wipe it off if it got something on it, but I did not use any type of polish or anything.

After about a year, the knife had a nice gray petina, but no rust. My knives have kind of a classic look, so the old looking blade didn't bother me at all.

After the year, I got out my knife polish, and polished it back it up. Save a few scratches, the blade looked good as new.

However, if you were going to put the knife up and not use it for long periods of time, I would put a good coat of wax on it like the other guys mentioned.

Hope this helped. -chris


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Chris Crawford - Chris Crawford Knives
 
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