Does Carbon Steel rust?

Hi people,

I just wanted to know, Does Carbon Steel rust?

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CALIFORNIA MDECIAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

Edited April 29, 2011 by TheBlueDragon

Carbon steel does rust-only stainless steels offer guarentees from rusting(and some of them rust if of a lesser quality ).Treated carbon steels(plated,chemically blacked),do offer a small amount of rust protection,but theyre not as hardwearing as stainless steels.

 

Hope this helps:thumbsup:

Originally posted by Annoni_mouse

Carbon steel does rust-only stainless steels offer guarentees from rusting(and some of them rust if of a lesser quality ).Treated carbon steels(plated,chemically blacked),do offer a small amount of rust protection,but theyre not as hardwearing as stainless steels.

 

Hope this helps:thumbsup:

yes it does it has to be cared for,oiled etc,but its far superior to stainless in keeping a sharp edge,it turns black after time if you dont oil it,but a quick wipe with emery cloth will bring it back to its shiny original self,i have a knife over 30 years old made of carbon,a couple of strokes on a steel and you could shave with it,

As stated it does rust - plastering trowels are made from it and they rust if not taken care of properly.

Carbon steel comes in many different forms. Some will oxidise very rapidly, where as some will take years. Stainless obviously varies loads too according to the alloying agents it has added to it and it what quantities. Most commonly added are Chromium, Vanadium, Molybdenum, Manganese etc. All bringing different properties to the alloy.

to be anal (i have a masters degree in materials engineering), all steels contain carbon, that is their definition... iron + carbon (+other elements usually) = steel!

Steels with high carbon tend to corrode much slower than low carbon steels, which might be a more useful answer

I'm confused, why doesn't stainless steel go rusty ?

 

(I'm ashamed I don't know more about steel being from Sheffield)

Originally posted by Mainframe

Hi people,

I just wanted to know, Does Carbon Steel rust?

 

Yes, to confirm my experience. I have two favorite pocket knives, one is an Opinel made from carbon steel and the other from Laguiole which is stainless. While the Opinel blackens easily and loses its edge quickly it regains it with a couple of wipes on a steel. The Laguiole, although undoubtedly beautiful and has a hard-wearing edge, once lost it takes work to regain a good edge.

Wish there were still people who came round to do sharpening.

Originally posted by ferret

Wish there were still people who came round to do sharpening.

 

Go to Mortons on West Street (next to the tram stop), they do a brilliant job sharpening knives.

Originally posted by nick2

I'm confused, why doesn't stainless steel go rusty ?

 

(I'm ashamed I don't know more about steel being from Sheffield)

 

The addition of chromium (> 12%) causes an inert film of chromic oxide to be formed over the metal surface preventing the formation of iron oxide (rust). They are only 'stainless' in enviroments that do not damage the passive film.

Originally posted by eddies32

The addition of chromium (> 12%) causes an inert film of chromic oxide to be formed over the metal surface preventing the formation of iron oxide (rust). They are only 'stainless' in enviroments that do not damage the passive film.

 

Spot on I'd add the oxide film very thin, and is quite adherant due to an increase in volume of the metal to metal oxide causing a compressive stress in the oxide film. The oxide that forms on normal steels is slightly lower in volume, causing tensile stress, and therefore craacks form, allowing further corrosion. (the oxides are strong in compression, but not in tension).

 

I've probably gone somewhat ott on the explanation there

So the film doesn't wear off if the metal is inside your body (I'm thinking of piercings or those rods they put in bones) ?