Rusty CS Kukri

[Izan]

I was fairly hammered last night when I had a great idea over at my buds place. To get out his belt sander and toss an edge on my new Kukri!!!!!

Yea, the edge was OK, better then the one I had on it but this morning, rust, lots. New to carbon steel blades I tried to sandpaper out the rust and for the most part it got rid of it. I put some gun oil on the blade and about 6 hours later, more rust!. So I did some sanding and there is some deep spots still left on the blade.

1. This is bad, right?
2. How do I prevent this?

Here are some pics after the second round of sanding:


http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/1997/rust1bz2.jpg
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/1605/rust2mg5.jpg
http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/5995/rust3lz0.jpg
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/2676/rust4ib3.jpg

[G. Scott H.]

I would put in some more time on the sander and get rid of the remaining grooves left from the original factory grind. Moisture will collect in them and not be easily wiped away. Try to polish the edge as smooth as possible.

After that, just rub a little oil on the edge after use. A little surface rust won't kill the blade, you just don't want to leave it so it has a chance to go deeper into the steel.

Btw, you describe yourself as "fairly hammered" at the time. You sure you didn't pass out and barf or take a leak on the blade? That would explain the quick rusting... :D :p

Here's the edge on my Barong Machete for example. Belt sander sharpened. Started with 120 gr., then went to new 600 gr., then finished with a well-worn 600 gr (the one I used is probably equal to 1000gr. by now :D).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v438/GSH70/HPIM1185.jpg

[Izan]

That is a nice looking edge bro. Is that a convex? I want to put convex on mine, but I do not think I am skilled enough for that. I will to what you said and hopefully the rusting stops.

[G. Scott H.]

It is indeed convex. In fact, it was hard to get a great pic because of the rounded, shiny surface. :mad: I bought a 1x30 belt sander from Harbor Freight about a year ago, and it's the best $40 I've ever spent (more like $50 now, it was on sale when I bought it). It does take some time to get used to sharpening with one, and I still screw things up every once in awhile, but you get better faster than you'd think. The hardest thing for me was learning not to rotate the handle of the knife towards me when sharpening near the tip of the blade (I still do it now and again, but I'm learning :D).

[Izan]

That blade design on my machete is hard to get at down by the handle. I have been reading as much as I can about convex edging and just don't have the concept down pat yet. I have some cheap knives (cheaper than the CS) I might practice on them.