Citristrip Vs. Kraton?

H

hawaiianhawk

Joined
Dec 25, 2009
Messages
953
I'm sitting here fondling my Kukri Machete and Warthog before heading off for work, and the thought to strip both of 'em strikes.:D
What I'm wondering is, will Citristrip hurt the Kraton handles if I don't remove 'em before stripping the blades? I think they'd look better with naked steel but don't want to have to remove the grips if I don't have to.

Any words of wisdom out there from the Kabartans or Beckerheads?
 
I would be very surprised if it did anything.

tell you what.... i'll put some kleen kote stripper on my soon to be returned HB toooj handle and see if anything happens. the kk is likely way stronger than citristrip. will report back in an hour or so.
 
According to the MSDS, Citristrip contains about 60% N Methyl Pyrollidone, which is pretty aggressive stuff. I'm not finding any specific chemical resistance chart for Kraton, so I can't swear that the Kraton will be affected. But, if it were I, I'd remove the handles.

And wear gloves. N Methyl Pyrollidone (NMP) is not terribly toxic in and of itself. But it has a nasty trait of being easily absorbed through the skin and bringing along other more toxic chemicals which may be dissolved in the NMP along for the ride.
 
Thanks, BRL. I didn't think anything would happen either, but I wanted to check first. I'll put some on a small area of mine when I strip them to check for future reference.

Also I can't help but mentally pronounce "BRL" as "Burl". Weird. :D
 
Thanks for the info, Knarfeng. I always wear gloves when I work with that stuff. Good to know for everyone, since we all seem to go through lots of it!
 
I didn't see any difference after an hour with the KK stripper, which is pretty evil stuff.

Before-During-After
2011-12-17_12-38-21_813.jpg

2011-12-17_12-39-12_759.jpg

2011-12-17_13-39-10_505.jpg


I've heard the "burl" thing before and it certainly doesn't bother me (BRL being my initials, of course). Feel free to mentally replace "BRL" with "Bruce" if it helps!
 
Thanks a bunch, BRL. I've already decided to test it with an old SK-5 Recon Scout that I sorta want to strip and rehandle anyway. Good to see Kration's pretty well impervious.
 
So, I tested the Citristrip on a Recon Scout handle, and not too surprisingly nothing happened.

During:

DSCN0793.jpg


After:

DSCN0801.jpg


So I started to strip my Kukri.

DSCN0802.jpg


DSCN0803.jpg


Remember, kids, knives are sharp.

DSCN0804.jpg


Then I had to leave for work. More pics tomorrow, followed by another coat and some sanding. The Kukri and Warthog seem to have a beadblasted finish under the black coating, which I don't care for. I'm sanding down my Kuk with 120 grit belt by hand... since I have a belt for some reason, but lack a belt sander. :confused: Tougher and longer-lasting than sandpaper, though.
 
Lol man I just about lost my mind trying to sand down the factory finish on my first warthog. Hours lost, and got nowhere. Good luck with that :D
 
Under that bead blast is the rough factory finish. I actually don't mind that, I did the same thing with my Cold Steel barong machete. I like it. This is a working tool. Pics shortly.
 
That turned out damn cool. I'd suggest a mango patina, but mangos are hard to come by this time of yea.... oh, wait. :D
 
That is not a bad idea at all, BRL... Our tree's not in season, methinks, but I should check our tangerine tree... Hmmm...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top