I am reviving this thread because I just finally got around to trying the Noxon. I bought some on Amazon soon after this thread started. WOW! Thanks for the tip! That stuff is amazing! So much removed with very little labor. REALLY impressive! I have several swords with rust now. I know, I am ashamed. I have no excuses. I actually won another Gim at a raffle at our annual banquet a bit over a year ago. That let me procratinate on cleaning my older Gim as I used the newer one for my test in front of my GM. But that one is rusty too now. I am about to apply some oil on this first gim that I tried this on. I am going to share some of my Noxon with some fellow students............ Edit - I just cleaned my second newer gim. The rust was only a couple of months old, compared to years on my older Gim. But there was more of it and it was a bit harder to remove. Also left more discoloration on the blade. I can only guess the sword quality of the second gim is poorer than the first? I know the second gim came in a shipment for a seminar. And that my school carries a different brand now. Which makes me think they were not satisfied with the quality? I think I will ask. My first Gim came from a shop in San Francisco we visited for our GM's tournament- Brendon Lai's store. Anyways, even on the second gim - the results in fixing bad rust was pretty impressive. I won't be embarrassed to use either one in the school anymore!
Don't be too quick to assume that your newer sword is of lesser quality. My guess as to why the second one had more damage was because it was a newer sword. Steel is actually porous on a microscopic scale. Over time, oil will get absorbed into these micro-pores. When you stop oiling your swords, those areas that are in contact with moisture will begin to rust. Less oil absorbed into the micro-structure of the blade means more opportunity for rust to begin. Glad you liked the Noxon, I recommend it to everyone!
As swords (or any carbon steel object basically) age, they will develop a patina. The patina is an oxidation layer that is very thin. My carbon steel kitchen knives are pretty dark, with various hues of black, blue, and orange depending on what I cut last. The patina is also chemically inert, and will provide a decent barrier to moisture. A well developed patina like on an age darkened blade, will be a very effect rust inhibitor (within reason of course, it is still carbon steel) whereas a shiny polished blade can rust very quickly. In that sense it doesn't surprise me at all that the new blade rusts quicker.
I just got some 3 in 1 oil to use to keep my swords oiled. Gonna do that in a week or two. Probably next weekend as this weekend I am about to do my first waxing/ detailing on my new car.
