Lesche maintenance

Are you sure you have a real Lesche? Mine has never rusted and I often toss it in trunk still covered in wet mud where it sits for days. Never seen any rust and this climate is bad for rusting things.

The Lesche is made from Chromoly steel not high grade stainless, so yes it does rust. Mine is a legit Lesche brought from Kellyco.

Pic of it below before painting:

ATProIron1of1_zps016b0ab6.jpg
 
The Lesche is made from Chromoly steel not high grade stainless, so yes it does rust. Mine is a legit Lesche brought from Kellyco.

Pic of it below before painting:

ATProIron1of1_zps016b0ab6.jpg

Wow I'm really surprised because mine doesn't have a hint of rust in over a year of serious digging. And if its gonna rust it should have already between our climate and my lack of upkeep of the tool. I mean I've dug in the river and creeks with it and then tossed it wet into a bag or the trunk. Mine had a black handle before I replaced it; any chance the red handle ones are made from a different metal??
 
The Lesche is made from Chromoly steel not high grade stainless, so yes it does rust. Mine is a legit Lesche brought from Kellyco.

Pic of it below before painting:

ATProIron1of1_zps016b0ab6.jpg

Wow I'm really surprised because mine doesn't have a hint of rust in over a year of serious digging. And if its gonna rust it should have already between our climate and my lack of upkeep of the tool. I mean I've dug in the river and creeks with it and then tossed it wet into a plastic bag. Mine had a black handle before I replaced it; any chance the red handle ones are made from a different metal??
 
I'm really curious how often you have to use Draino in the bathroom sink after rinsing muddy equipment off.

Never, actually. All the sinks in my house have cleanout plugs installed in the traps. Sink starts running slow, unscrew the plug, run the snake, screw the plug back in, problem solved. Takes less then 3 minutes. Happens maby 1 time a year. Don't get me wrong, I'm not washing rocks and twigs and so forth down the drain. Just mud.


Hunt Happy!
Plug Martian
 
The Lesche is made from Chromoly steel not high grade stainless, so yes it does rust. Mine is a legit Lesche brought from Kellyco.

Pic of it below before painting:

ATProIron1of1_zps016b0ab6.jpg

Same as mine in terms of taking on an earthy brown in areas that don't get as much friction.

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a rusting lesche is a surefire sign that your not gettin out detecting enough :yes:
 
Well shoot I was about to suggest that too. Is it possible you just got a bum Lesche sorta like how some of us end up with Propointers that give us grief while others have one that has been working for years?

Lesches are made out of steel. Steel rusts, even stainless. If yours doesn't rust, you either take better care of it than I do, or you have an anomoly. Mine can sit in the sheathe for a week with clumps of mud up near the bend and there is surface rust on it when I knock them off.

My comment about WD40 was geared to not helping it keep the mud off. It works great after I've wire brushed it to clean the surface rust off and to keep the moisture away. I've used it for 30 years and like it to keep water away from metal, but the real solution is to find something that won't let the mud and dirt stick to it. I spend a lot of time just knocking the clay/mud off the lesche when out detecting so it will fit back in the sheathe and its wasted time.

According to the company that makes WD-40: WD-40 literally stands for water displacement 40th attempt. That's the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist who helped develop WD-40 back in 1953. Norm Larsen, was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion, a task which is done by displacing water. Norm's persistence paid off when he perfected the formula for WD-40 on his 40th try.
 
Lesches are made out of steel. Steel rusts, even stainless. If yours doesn't rust, you either take better care of it than I do, or you have an anomoly. Mine can sit in the sheathe for a week with clumps of mud up near the bend and there is surface rust on it when I knock them off.

Mine must be an anomoly because like I said before I don't take care of it. I don't even have a clue where the sheath is as I just carry mine in hand since I am a clad digger I am down digging like ever 60 seconds so no time to sheath. I often toss it covered in mud into my trunk in a plastic bag if I am in hurry or if the clay is so caked on I can't get it off. I rent so I have no access to water hose to rinse it off outdoors and don't dare rinse in sink for fear of stopping up the drain.
 
I wouldn't long term store it in the sheath.

Lesches are made out of steel. Steel rusts, even stainless. If yours doesn't rust, you either take better care of it than I do, or you have an anomoly. Mine can sit in the sheathe for a week with clumps of mud up near the bend and there is surface rust on it when I knock them off.

My comment about WD40 was geared to not helping it keep the mud off. It works great after I've wire brushed it to clean the surface rust off and to keep the moisture away. I've used it for 30 years and like it to keep water away from metal, but the real solution is to find something that won't let the mud and dirt stick to it. I spend a lot of time just knocking the clay/mud off the lesche when out detecting so it will fit back in the sheathe and its wasted time.

According to the company that makes WD-40: WD-40 literally stands for water displacement 40th attempt. That's the name straight out of the lab book used by the chemist who helped develop WD-40 back in 1953. Norm Larsen, was attempting to concoct a formula to prevent corrosion, a task which is done by displacing water. Norm's persistence paid off when he perfected the formula for WD-40 on his 40th try.

Any sort of sheath will tend to hold the moisture if you put it away damp, and this will lead to corrosion. It is even worse if the sheath is made of vegetable tanned leather, as the leather contains sulfur, due to its being largely protein, and during the tanning process, leather is treated with both acids and bases, which tend to remain trapped in the fibers.
Two of my other hobbies are collecting cameras and leather craft. I always cringe when I found a camera that had been stored in a leather case for years. Usually, no matter how dry it had been stored, atmospheric moisture had caused corrosive fumes to be released into the camera. As a result, the meter and all the other electonics were usually bad, and the brass under the chrome finish on the camera would have green verdigris pinpoints all over it.
I do have and greatly enjoy making and using my leather camera bags, but I never store photo gear in them.
An outdoor tool, such as a Lesche or Predator, ought to be, In my opinion, kept stuck in a bucket filled with sand with a drizzle of motor oil in it, as was suggested earlier in this thread. Just my opinion.
HH,
John Morton
 
Any sort of sheath will tend to hold the moisture if you put it away damp, and this will lead to corrosion. It is even worse if the sheath is made of vegetable tanned leather, as the leather contains sulfur, due to its being largely protein, and during the tanning process, leather is treated with both acids and bases, which tend to remain trapped in the fibers.
Two of my other hobbies are collecting cameras and leather craft. I always cringe when I found a camera that had been stored in a leather case for years. Usually, no matter how dry it had been stored, atmospheric moisture had caused corrosive fumes to be released into the camera. As a result, the meter and all the other electonics were usually bad, and the brass under the chrome finish on the camera would have green verdigris pinpoints all over it.
I do have and greatly enjoy making and using my leather camera bags, but I never store photo gear in them.
An outdoor tool, such as a Lesche or Predator, ought to be, In my opinion, kept stuck in a bucket filled with sand with a drizzle of motor oil in it, as was suggested earlier in this thread. Just my opinion.
HH,
John Morton

Great post. Thanks John and everyone else who replied.
 
mine has never rusted abit. never clean it, just shove it in the holster. I did end up cutting the bottom inch off the holster so dirt falls out. HH blev
 
mine is 5 yrs old and mine is not rusted, I never do anything but wipe the mud off
 
I've never cleaned any of my lesches in 5 years of detecting... ever. It's a shovel made to dig in the dirt with, not to be a show piece. Surface rust on the blade is just that, surface rust. Take it out and dig a few holes and the rust will come right off. I have a lesche now thats been outside in the yard for 2 years and its covered in rust. A few target recoveries and it will look new again. No need to go and spend more money to make it water and rust proof, thats absurd. Just dig more holes and it won't rust lol.
 
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