Plated blades are another of those things that get an unfairly bad name, IMHO. Yes, many modern decorator/"junk" blades that are just not quite modern/up to date enough to be stainless are chromed/nickel plated/etc. Yes, I've even seen Chinese knock-offs of that Giegeresque cutler England's blades made of brass and chromed. But many old blades were plated as a simple preserving method, especially in the days before stainless steel. A lot a lot of old sabres are nickel or tin plated, as a substitute for the then nonexistent (and anyway, undesired in a sword for other reasons) property of stainlessness. I have a nice Case (R, tm, whatever.....) bowie with a chromed blade. Chrome is the bad one to deal with, and I wonder if that isn't what Conogre has dealt with? It is the shiniest, the hardest, and is actually more abrasion-resistant than steel, and makes unhealthy dust, so a file (which cuts) is actually a better way to go through it than a grinder/sander, and was the method I used to sharpen my Case dagger, and it was a rock-solid pain to sharpen. Didn't cut myself (on that one
), but I think it gave me a cramp. If there's a layer of copper under it, it's probably chrome, because copper sticks well to steel and chrome, while they don't really like each other much. Of course where the plating is gone your blade will rust; that's why the plating was there. The association of rust resistance with quality steel is, in terms of traditional carbon steels, completely without basis, AFAIK; it is an industrial ideal, I guess. Some old steels were rather rust resistant. I've read claims this was achieved by temper (as with modern "stainless" steel [no steel is stainless; rust resistant is the proper term], though the effect I mention is not in my experience as full or strong as with modern stainless, by any means.), but of course, alloying, known or unknown, must've played a role.
I like some of the chromed Phillipino stuff, especially.
Mostly it seems to me like another cultural/fashion issue.