Epoxy coating?

[brassbent]

Hi All,

First off, let me just say that I'm a newbie to knives and have spent the past month lurking on this forum. I've learned so much and thank ya'll for the great info.

I had a silly question though:

Is it safe to prepare food with knives that have an epoxy coating (e.g. Becker, Ka-Bar, Rat, etc.)? Is there a danger that it will come off into food? If so, should I just strip the coating off my knives if I intend to use them for camp cooking?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.

Best,
Brass

 

[CWL]

Wellcome brassbent!

Generally, studies about the toxicity of cured epoxy resins do not show them to cause any problems, however there is a small group of people who do show epoxy sensitivity. This is mostly when working with uncured epoxy and when sanding the material.

Epoxy coatings on knives shouldn't be an issue unless you already have sensitivity to it, and you'd likely be causing yourself more problems if you try to remove it chemically or by sanding.

 

[ipm]

The coatings should not come off on food; however, they may on hard use like wood chopping. You never know though. I presonally would not worry too much, but if you do, get a food knife with no coating. or take it off.

Speaking of food, I would look into the impact of using a rust inhibitor product like TUF Cloth (e.g. for RAT cutlery) on a blade. Look around to see if any oils or coatings that are needed for maintaining your knife are food safe.

Some rust inhibitors are not food grade (TUF Cloth) but won't hurt you if you eat them, others will hurt you even in small quantities, and others are completly safe like mineral oil.

Good luck.