Wrought Iron Rust Prevention?

[Eric Dennis]

Hello,

I recently finished a small pattern welded bowl (an experiment to see how far I could stretch the material). I have a large santoku made from the same billet: Wrought, L6, and 1084. I have yet to polish and etch the knife, but after etching the bowl the wrought iron in particular has started rusting pretty quickly, especially in the pits and blemishes.

 

My questions in preparation for finishing the blade: is simply oiling the best way to prevent this? Is there some other technique? Also, is there a way to get rid of the rust in the bowl without messing with the etched pattern?

 

Thanks in advance-

Eric

[Lee Sauder]

Wrought is sometimes a little porous, especially if you've etched in Ferric Chloride, which eats the slag stringers as well as the iron. So it takes a little more neutralizing.

I would just scrub it with dampened baking soda, (and I usually let it soak in soda solution for some time), then rinse, warm it enough to dry, and then hose it down with WD-40. Let that soak awhile, then clean and and oil or wax.

[Eric Dennis]

Thanks, I will try this. I may not have neutralized well enough.