Question about Corrosion between Carbon Steel Blade and Stainless Steel Fittings

[Drlittletorso]

Hello All!

I'm new to the community. This is my first post. I'm working on a tanto (Will post picture when possible). My Blade is made from a w-1 edge with an a36 spine. I was thinking about making my fittings out of some 316 stainless steel I got from work (I was given ALOT and really want to avoid using it as blade material and only for fittings, handles, liners/frames for folders in the future etc.). I'm concerned about corrosion occurring where the dissimilar metals touch. I work in Water/Wastewater and one of the big things when using 316 stainless is galvanic corrosion of dissimilar metals it's in contact with. I was wondering if anyone has ever run into this, if this is a concern among knife makers, and if so is there a method to prevent this from happening?

I would like to make the habaki, Guard, and other fittings from this if I can, I just don't know if i need to coat the blade with something to keep the stainless from corroding my blade at the contact points. Is this a legitimate concern?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Welcome Delittletorso.
In a dry situation like a knife galvanic corrosion will not be an issue. It takes an electrolyte between the dissimilar metals to cause the voltage flow.

Stainless steel hardware on carbon blades has been around for half a century or more with no problems.

 

[Drlittletorso]

Thank you! Good news! Sounds like I’ve got some fittings to make!