How Do you Clean Your Blades

C

Craig Gottlieb

Joined
Mar 8, 1999
Messages
1,760
I was reading P1445's essay on cold bluing, and I was inspired to ask a question. First, some background:

When the khukuris come to me, they are coated with a nasty thick gunk which I clean off before shipment to customers. As most of you know
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, some of this material stays in the sheath for a while, and is a real pain in the butt (I'd ask Lalit not to coat them before shipment, but then I fear I'd have a far more serious problem: orange blades).

Anyway, I have an old 105mm brass artillery shell that I keep filled with rubbing alcohol. This is how I clean the blades before polishing them.

How do you clean yours?



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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor
 
Hot water and dish detergent works fine.
Or Windex.
Just be sure to re-coat the blade with oil or whatever before storage.

--Mike L.

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Real men ride Moto Guzzis!
 
Hot water and detergent are my first choices, followed by what ever solvent I happen to have handy(Gun Scrubber, brake cleaner, acetone, trichlor.)

If all else fails, which happens often, Flitz polish and lots of elbow grease.

p1445
 
I favor acetone. It's really quick and the grease or cosmoline just wipes right off. After the acetone has been removed I recommend using paste floor wax to protect the blade from rust. Take care.


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Fred
Knife Outlet
http://www.knifeoutlet.com


 
A long time ago when I collected military firearms that come coated in cosmoline. I used kerosene to clean the cosmoline off.

Hot water and soap works very well and is much safer.

For cleaning after use, soap and water works the best. Bark and sap really stick when using a heavy khukuri.


Will
 
Where can one by acetone (forgive my chemical ignorance)?

Craig.

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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor
 
Craig,

Acetone is available in most hardware stores. I think it is in the paint section. The Walmarts here in Ontario carry it.

Becareful using the stuff, it is quite flamable and has a high vapor pressure (lots of fumes). Also, wear proper rubber gloves it will dry your hands out.


Will
 
Hey guys, I would recommend alcohol (NOT rubbing alcohol....LOL) - the kind used for stoves/lamps. We use acetone a lot at where I work, and regular LATEX gloves are NOT adequate protection
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- use a neoprene based glove.. Alcohol isn't near as volatile/explosive if left uncovered. Alcohol is also great for removing the gum/adhesive residue from labels, and tape
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. Any good hardware, or home center will carry either. Both solvents will dry out the oils from your skin and makes your skin crack much faster (like chapped lips in winter, but way worse).

I use HOT soapy water, and motor oil after each time I use it.
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Just my two cents.

Ray 'md2020'
 
At one time I was returning a couple cases of surplus military rifles into service. They were packed in thick cosmoline. I broke each down, placed its basic componants in a garbage bag and drove down to my friendly, neighborhood self-service car wash. A few moments on the "de-grease" selection, then a rinse with plain water worked like a charm!!!

A couple tips:
  • Take a plastic milk crate with you. It make a great rack to hold whatever you need to clean.
  • BE CAREFUL on finished wood surfaces. If you hold the pressure wash on them too long, it WILL remove the finish. On wood, less is better.
  • Take a few extra trash bags. You can put your shiny, clean parts into new bags and leave the old greasy bags in the dumpster at the car wash.
  • Use the vacume cleaner at the car wash to remove any excess water from your pieces. Most of the car washes have industrial-strength vacume cleaners that work pretty well getting the water from cracks and crannies (especially on gun parts).
  • When you get home, wipe everything down with a clean rag then lube.

I could de-grease and clean one entire rifle for $2.50 (including the vacume cleaner). Your mileage may vary.

Blackdog

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Blackdog: You know, I used to clean my M16 (illegally of course), in the shower with hot soapy water - Can't do that with my khukuris 'cause I'd be taking an awful lot of showers. As for my alcohol habit
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, the reason I'm unsatisfied with that one is that it tends to smear the leftover rouge around on the blade - leaving a white "scum" on the blade unless I wipe furiously.

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Craig Gottlieb
Gurkha House
Blade Forums Sponsor
 
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