Maserin Atti 388 Gentleman's Folder

After some more reading, I realize that the bolster is supposed to be of "nickel silver", hence the warmer pewter-like tones. However, it doesn't explain the ton of oxidation it's throwing off. It is ugly and off-putting. I let those sexy, Italian burl scales beguile me and now I have a new "beater knife". No more Maserins for me: I guess Maniago has a crappy side of town, like everywhere else.

My Maserin 388 knife arrived in good condition. The briar scales were absolutely beautiful and added greatly to the appearance of its arguably bland, conservative design. (But that's the genre lately.) The s35vn blade was a little rough but easily finished up with strop and compounds. Thinking nothing of it, I slipped the knife in its leather sleeve and went about my workweek, never taking it out. On the weekend, I pulled it out and the satin-finished steel bolsters were evenly browned with very fine oxidation (rust)! It cleaned up very well with Pre-Lim surface cleaner and, after buffing the last of it off, I treated the surfaces with Renaissance micro-crystalline wax polish. Thinking the leather slip cover and maybe a humid pocket were to blame, I left the knife out. Within a few days, I could again see the oxidation creeping back into the surface of the bolsters. After a second thorough cleaning and treatment with an archival wax/polish to keep moisture away, the bolsters almost have just a vague almost pewtery colour to them. Massdrop / Maserin: what are these bolsters made of? What sort of cheap alloy behaves like this? I take good care of some 300+ knives, swords, axes, etc. and have not seen this in any of my mostly mid-tech and custom pieces! I had a 1975 Chevy Vega pig-iron rustmobile that didn't rust this fast! This is not a "gentleman's folder"; it is a "cautionary tale". Maserin needs to go back to the accountants and fix this problem or this end of their business will suffer for lack of repeat customers: knife people don't forget these kinds of things.

Got my Atti 388 and not impressed at all, the wood have dings and holes poor attention to details.