Thread: Problem with waterspots

Originally Posted by ursus

Well that does mean that there isn't anything extra added there, but since it's natural water it might contain trace minerals/salts that cause the spotting. Or it just might be the steel. You could try to eliminate the water by purchasing distilled/bottled water, heating it and shaving with that for a while and see if the spotting is as bad.

If it is, I saw a blade here that somebody rustblued for the same reason.

I do have a couple of gallons of distilled water. I'll try almost anything at this point. Thanks!

Rust bluing is an interesting idea. I looked it up on wikipedia. This is probably too much of a tangent (and perhaps a silly question) but I wonder why they chose to do rust bluing instead of hot bluing.

Originally Posted by aragornelessar86

Interesting idea, the Rustblueing. That could be pretty damn cool.

Zen, it's a modification of a trick we use for powdercoating welded steel. The welding will introduce little gas pockets under the surface, and when you heat the part to bake the powder, the pockets burst and damage the finish. So we bake the parts first to burst all the pockets, then proceed as usual. The bit about applying the oil hot is from firearm conditioning.

Just figured that if there's actually something in the blade that's holding the moisture, the ideas should transfer. I recommended the hair dryer because it shouldn't get hot enough to damage the temper of the steel. Let me know how it works if you try it.

P.S.
Are the spots always in the same place? If it's something in the metal, they should be. If not, I'm going with Jerry's theory about minerals in the water.

Aragorn, to answer your question, to be honest I can't tell whether the spots are in the same place over time. The blade is clean at the moment but I'll start taking pictures when the waterspots develop again for the purposes of comparison.

Just to limit the number of moving parts, I'll try the hair drier first for a while and then the distilled water if I don't see an improvement.

ZE

Originally Posted by ZenEdge

I do have a couple of gallons of distilled water. I'll try almost anything at this point. Thanks!

Rust bluing is an interesting idea. I looked it up on wikipedia. This is probably too much of a tangent (and perhaps a silly question) but I wonder why they chose to do rust bluing instead of hot bluing.

Can't remember. Maybe materials/facilities/fear of ruining the temper. Doing search on bluing this site will bring you few blued blades.

Originally Posted by Shangers

Hey Zen,
If you figure it out, please post the results. I have a Dovo with the same issue. Within moments of being in the water, I start to get those waterspots. I try to dry and shave, dry and shave. All the things you have done. Ended up screwing up the gold etching on my blade from trying to get the waterspots to stay gone. It is so annoying.

Nihao Shangers,

Will do! It is annoying. If it was a tarnish I wouldn't mind so much. For some reason spots just make me want to clean the blade.

Zen

ps - The irony is not lost on me (and I'm a little embarrassed) that my call sign is "ZenEdge" but my mind is getting stuck on things like waterspots...oh well, it is. I guess I'm not enlightened.