A knife is a tool that’s meant to be used.
If you use it regularly, clean it, dry it, and maintain it properly, it can last for decades. But if you leave it forgotten in the back of a kitchen drawer, rust will eventually take over.
Many people rediscover an old knife after years of storage only to find it looking like this.
This particular knife is made of carbon steel, which is well known for developing rust if neglected. Stainless steel knives usually don’t become this heavily covered in red rust, but they are not rust-proof. Left unused in a damp environment, stainless steel can also corrode over time.
The reddish-brown rust on the surface can usually be removed by grinding or polishing. The real problem lies underneath.
Beneath the visible rust, a dark corrosion layer often extends deep into the steel. If the damage is shallow, a skilled sharpening can remove it. But when the corrosion has penetrated too deeply, restoring the blade completely may no longer be possible.
Once I started sharpening, it became clear that the right side of the blade had suffered much deeper corrosion than the left. The heavy rust concentrated near the cutting edge was especially stubborn.
I removed a significant amount of steel, but some of the deep corrosion remained.
The appearance wasn’t the biggest problem. Corrosion near the edge weakens the steel and can cause the edge to chip. No matter how carefully I sharpened, the edge kept chipping whenever it reached the damaged layer.
After re-establishing the edge several times, I finally reached healthy steel beneath the corrosion. At that point, the blade stopped chipping and took a proper cutting edge again.
If you have a knife that has been sitting unused for years, it’s worth taking a close look. Hidden corrosion can be much more serious than the surface rust suggests.