Cleaning knives - drying?

K

KC8QVO

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Apr 7, 2011
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I washed my ESEE-3 this evening and used it with dinner as a test. On a whim I decided to pop the scales off and see if any water got between the blade and scales after I washed it and, sure enough, there was water soaked between.

The blade is painted, however one of the holes has the paint worn through and there is bare metal exposed.

For future washing of these blades, or any other time getting them wet, especially being carbon steels, I will try to remember to open them up for drying.

That brings me to my question - not all scales are removable. I am looking at some Bark River knives, and 90% of their models have pins instead of screws. How does one go about washing and drying these? Is there much worry about water between the scales and blade? Is there a way that the scales do come off the styles with the pins instead of screws - without damage or compromising the integrity of the blade/scales?
 
well do not sweat what you can not fix.

the bark rivers i own are pinned,though i do not wash them down much,if i do i use compressed air to dry them..
 
When I don't disassemble my folders to clean them, I blast them with water. To dry them, I heat them up with a hair dryer, Once it cools, all of the water is gone. I'm not sure how that would work out for water under scales on a fixed blade, though.
 
A liberal spraying of WD 40 should displace any water.
 
live in texas where its over 105 degrees outside in the sun, 5 min in the sun on the concrete will dry just about anything.
 
The scales of a fixed blade with non-removable handles are most likely glued or epoxied, theoretically leaving no room for water. I have several Bark Rivers and there isn't a gap to be seen between the scale and tang. This goes for all my other fixed blades, except for the Beckers, as their scales are removable.
 
Scales fastened with pins or corby bolts (i.e. permenantly attached) should be also attached with epoxy. If the epoxy was applied properly then there should be no way for liquid water to get between the scales and the tang.

For your ESEE, taking apart the knives every time they get wet sounds annoying. There are two ways I can think of to remedy that. One, if you don't really need to remove the handle scales for other reasons, just epoxy the scales on. Otherwise, try to force a patina on whatever metal is exposed under the scales, and then put a bit of grease or oil on the tang just before you attach the scales. That should stay good for a long time.

I doubt you will have serious issues with rust in any case. It may look ugly under the scales but it won't be a real problem for structural integrity.
 
Rinse the knife in HOT water, long enough to warm up the steel along with it. That'll speed evaporation of any water that might hide in places you can't easily reach. This is how I do it with folding knives, and it works very well.

If there's still some concern about water remaining behind, flush with WD-40 or isopropyl alcohol to displace it.
 
You're going to wear out those screws if you take those scales off everytime. Jeff Randall did a post on that subject. Get some EEZOX and get it all up in there, let that dry and be done with it. Life is too short. I stripped my ESEE-5 and then did an epoxy job on the scales and resanded to fit (that coating is THICK). That ended my water worries.

+1 on the very hot water. I have access to a tap that is damn near boiling. That is great for getting oil off of things. I have used that to clean gun parts in fact. Have some insulated rubber gloves. Scrub stuff down with that very hot water and soap and then shake. You'd be surprised how quickly that hot metal evaporates off water. Then a quick WD-40 to get any drops hiding, another vigorous shake, followed by CLP.
 
disassemble the knife, wash it rinse it with very hot water, dry it very carefully then put a very thick coat of thick grease everywhere, put the scales back and wipe any excess. that should seal the tang enough to handle light washing.
 
I've noticed many posts recommending hot water.

If you have an espresso machine break out the gloves/tongs and get the frother pumping!
 
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