Epoxy cleanup

[JoshRG]

I agree 100% Adam. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but when I used a piece of brass as a graver I ended up with tiny scratches along my ricasso. Graphite from pencils has done the same thing.

 

[E.Carlson]

Denatured alcohol does not appear to be as easy to find at HD or Lowes as it used to be. Kerosene has totally vanished from those stores in Florida, but I found a fuel depot down the road that will sell it to me a gallon at a time if'n I bring my own can.

That's strange. Here in Oklahoma HD and Lowes sell both alchohol and kerosene. The alchohol is labeled as alchohol fuel. You would think with all the boating in Florida they would stock it for alchohol stoves.

 

[jwesthurl]

I’m sure others do this but I like to cut the tip off one side of a q-tip at a steep angle. It creates a sort of pointed chisel that gets into the corner where the scales and ricasso meet really well. It removes the bulk of the squeeze out there, and you can flip it around and use the other end to get the rest.

 

[Justin Schmidt]

Denatured alcohol does not appear to be as easy to find at HD or Lowes as it used to be. Kerosene has totally vanished from those stores in Florida, but I found a fuel depot down the road that will sell it to me a gallon at a time if'n I bring my own can.

Maybe down there but up here by ocala i get it from walmart.
I find that a folded paper towel with DA on it works great. I juat use the corner or edges. I have a flashlight i shine on it for a fee minutes while curing.
Like someone else said clamping the knife with the blade up really helps.

 

[JTknives]

I do not know about the rest of you, but I have found things that are not suppose to scratch harden steel will at the worse time leave a scratch somehow.

It got to the point I buy a bag of cotton pads, cotton balls and qtips to wipe the blade and no more surprised scratches.

It always amazes me how a piece of harden steel will mysteriously get a scratch 5 seconds after you finish the blade.

Yeah I have found that as well. I think it’s because we are constantly exposed grit and all it takes is one tiny grain to fall out of your hair or clothing and poof a scratch. But I’m with you I clean it’s it comes out. Makes for a much easier job then waiting till it’s hard. JB weld on the other hand is rather slick. If you wait till it’s allmost set up you can get ahold of the extra and it will peal right off.

 

[Hengelo_77]

I also use scraps of G10 liner and aluminium to scrape off epoxy.

Stacy I can't open your link (geo fencing?)
Is 94% alcohol good for what is discussed in this thread?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

We may be discussing two different issues here. Wiping a blade off with a paper towel or rag will likely put scratches on a mirror polish blade. Wiping it with your fingers may do the same. That is because we knifemakers have tiny dust particles of hardened steel and abrasives everywhere. Like Adam, I buy the rolls of cotton makeup remover pads .... and keep them sealed in a zip lock bag. I also use Q-tips fresh out of the box, not ones laying around on the bench.

Paper towels, especially the cheaper varieties with recycled paper in them, are often full of silica and other hard grits.
This is the number one source of scratches on mirror polish blades.

Pencil lead isn't graphite ( and hasn't been fort a long time) It mostly clay with a bit of graphite and other stuff in it. It will scratch polished steel.

As to brass gravers scratching hardened steel, it would be some contaminate that was on the graver or on the steel, not the brass. Brass is many times softer than hard steel. Most new brass stock is clean, too. What happens is you sharpen a graver on a wheel or stone that is hard, and transfer the swarf into the graver face. I always file the graver to shape with a fine file. This has the least likely chance of putting grit in the graver face.I have cut the solder joint bright with a freshly sharpened graver hundreds of times, and used brass engravers in other tasks, and never seen the brass leave a mark. Obviously, if your graver is sitting on a grit covered workbench, all bets are off.

Cleanliness is the solution to most problems that are due to contamination.
1) Wash your hands repeatedly.
2) Wear nitrile gloves and change them often.
3) wash off parts and tools as needed to remove epoxy and contaminates like abrasive dust.
4) Vacuum your shop and bench regularly.
5) Store all things used in final work in a tightly closed box or a zip lock bag ( or both).

Use a pad or soft towel to pre-clean the blade and epoxy area, then discard it or set aside for some "dirty" use. Use a fresh clean pad or soft towel to do the clean-up.

Most of what has been said is why I do not like or make mirror polish blades.