Thread: How did my blade rust?

Originally Posted by xMackx

I did an experiment for school (8th grade) with iron nails in differnet liquids. The jars sat for 6 weeks. I thought the tap water, which is our well water run through a Culligan water softener and a cholination set up, would rust the iron nail more than the isopropyl alcohol, but I was wrong.

Why would the alcohol create more rust than tap water?


....

Thanks for the experiment!

An additional conclusion is that the alcohol cleans the lubrication that
is necessary to pull the steel wire and form the nails.

If you handle a lot of nails you will feel the grease (at least I have).

I have sanded razors with water, alcohol and WD-40.
The alcohol rusts the fastest, the water next and WD-40
keeps the steel bright for a week.

In the case of alcohol I have seen rust form in 10 min.
It is thin and rubs off with MAAS or even oiled tissue.
I never let it stay rusty overnight.

Why alcohol... I wanted the disinfectant property
on a very old nasty crusty blade. I also sanded with
bleach on this crustified blade... talk about rust... OH my.