not sure what i would use yet, but i would look for chemical means before trying any buffing.

That's fair. What do you think? Like a bathroom cleaner or something like that?

Nick,

It will not be rust...not if it was not there beforehand...the blood in the meat causes this...I can see an area of "stain" in the photo...it looks like a form of "patina"...if you have a combination sponge/green nylon wire scrubber for pans...put washing up liquid on the blade and rub it with the green nylon under a hot tap...it will come off.

The amino acids in the blood make it react with the steel...happens on paunching rabbits as well...I carry a "scourer" as described above in my "Mess Tins" and use it with washing up liquid to clean the blade...the nylon type wire wool is less abrasive than the "steel" wire wool...it will do the trick!

Dried blood is always difficult to get off...left unchecked it will cause pitting on the edge...most of your marks are on the sharpened edge where there is naked steel which is rough...you would get this on a Combat finish or a LE finish. Using a leather strop on the edge and convexing it smoothes the roughness and does seem to help.

metal glo works sometimes. it's taken some nasty spots off my khukris.

it seems like most people with the DCDM ended up with a more satin like finish in the end because it sounds like when you take the scotchbright or steel wool to it it almost takes the DC finish off.in a way its like the DC finish is only temporary if it is to be used.almost defeats the purpose but from a business standpoint i can see why they scrapyard released it.scrapyard never had a DC finished knife before so it was another way to get money from the DM.

to me its neither here nor there.its still an incredible knife all in all just like every scrapyard knife or busse knin knife.

STEELFAN,

i never looked at it like that.that the DC finish actually lets you know how clean or unclean the blade may be.it makes a lot of sense.and i agree it may be more of a patina than actual rust but since a patina is technically rust i just throw'em all in the same boat.my DFLE has quite a patina but not what you would call actual rust imo.

other than maybe the MPLE and BDLE i never use any of my scrapyard knives in the kitchen nor would i for cleaning game.1/4in thick is just thicker than i prefer for kitchen work or game cleaning/skinning although i know many have/do.

on the bright side nick at the end of the day you still have one of the best knives money can buy.the DC finish may come off a bit when you try to clean it or eventually from use but its still a scrapyard dumpstermutt.

Eh. I'm kind of thinking a judgment call needs to be made here as to whether you want to use this knife, or keep it looking great. Any knife you actually use will get scratched and patinated, there's just no way around this unless you continually polish it. Which means you'd be spending a lot of blade material just to keep it looking shiny.

S7 is not a stainless steel, and it will corrode readily if not cleaned promptly (within minutes of use in acidic environments). In my experience it doesn't corrode any worse than expected for a tool steel. Which is why you'll notice that 99% of kitchen cutlery is stainless.

A patina does not significantly affect the knife's mechanical integrity: yes, it is a form of rust, but it is "good rust", which forms a protective layer on the metal that stops further oxides from forming. We have chisels that are over a hundred years old and are completely dark with patina, and they are still solid and sharp. "Bad rust" is orange and powdery, and will just keep getting worse.

I suppose from a food preparation standpoint, patina is not a good thing, but I'd just use the scotchbrite pads and get rid of it. And accept whatever happens to the finish. If it was a user anyway. And if it was a showpiece I wouldn't use it to cut up my steak.

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The bead blasted finish is more proned to rust than the CG blades... Bruce talked about this extensively in another thread. I cant remember which one. I bought a DMDC when they were released and traded it... I despise a bead blasted finish. I now only buy CG blades.

That's the main reason exactly why people prefer the LE's over CG's, is the blade grind, since the majority are full flats in LE.

my DFLE's no safe queen, and the finish still looks great. a scrape here and there, but still a beauty and stains/corrosion have never been an issue. the only blades that ever show oxidation are my villagers, and even that's not too common.

the carbon moras do patina very quickly and easily.