Help, I stripped my mojo and now its's ugly.

calder100

calder100

Joined
Apr 13, 2007
Messages
309
So I stripped my Mini Mojo:thumbup:. The black coating was all scuffed and coming off. Now it looks all uneven and scratched:thumbdn:. I want it satin! Can anyone who customizes knifes put a nice satin finish on it, and maybe give it serrations? Or should I try to do it myself? Advice would be much appriciated...:confused:
 
Look up a fellow named Ban over on the Busse forum. His mod work is exceptional. Also, Bill Siegle does fantastic work.
 
I say give it a shot before you send it out to a pro that'll charge you for the finish. I got a pretty nice working satin finish on my user HRLM so I know SR-101 will satinize by hand nicely. But it does take quite a bit of elbow grease.

To remove the coating (which you have done) I brushed on a heavy coat of Kleen-Strip Gel paint stripper. Don't worry about the Micarta, you can't hurt it with this stuff. Basically the coating will bubble and begin to release from the steel. I scrape it off with a plastic putty knife. You may have to hit some of the tougher spots a few times with the gel.

Once all the coating is removed from any exposed steel you'll probably notice a few to many blemishes on the steel. Since SRKW coats the blades they don't always take the steel to a fine finish. I have some blemishes on a stripped Bandicoot that I would need a belt sander to grind down. Anyway, the majority of the steel should be workable by hand. I use various grits of wet/dry sandpaper without water to take the steel down to a nice working satin finish. I think going from 400 to 800 to 1000 grit has worked for me. You may want to try starting with 200. Experiment a little. You really can't hurt the steel. Once I have his all the flats with the paper, I take some jeweler's rouge or polishing compound on a felt Dremel pad and polish the steel. The finish on my HRLM is more of a matte finish, not a high polish satin. I have put a high polish mirror satin on the spine and handle edges.

Just remember no matter what you or the modder does, SR-101 is NOT the most stain resistant steel out there. Naked SR-101 will rust if stored when wet and it will stain from acidic materials, like blood, citrus juice, etc. Make sure that you lube the blade after each use/cleaning. I use Sentry Tuff-Cloth which is a mineral spirit based lubricant. You can try a bunch of other stuff including good old WD-40. I'll try to post a pic of my blade tomorrow. Good luck.

If not I have seen a lot of pictures of Bill and Ban's work. I don't think you will be disappointed with either one.
 
I had Justin over at Ranger Knives work over my M6 after it got beat up, here are some shots of her
P5190326.jpg

P5190327.jpg

P5190330.jpg
 
Wow, that's more chrome than satin. I think i'm gonna send it off. I want some mods done that I can't do. Thanks for all the advice.
 
Another plus for Justin at Ranger knives as well as Ban and Siegle. They can all do great work. The sharpest knife I have ever had was a Busse that Justin worked over for me. I am sure the others can put an equally screaming edge on it.
 
I always thought any diff tempered Rat would look awesome with wood handles and a finish that showed off the hamon. Blued would also look great.
 
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