How to keep the blade clean while putting handle on

Outdoor Gear Dad

Outdoor Gear Dad

Joined
Jun 1, 2019
Messages
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So I don’t know what I am doing wrong here....I finish my grinds, a surface grind, sand, put my mark on it....looks great. I tape it up with blue painters tape. Put the handle on, hand sand, blah blah blah. When I take that tape off, it’s like my blade is all ugly, there’s discoloration, marks from the tape, it just doesn’t look the same. I clean it off with everything I have, but it still doesn’t look clean anymore. Best practices please?
 
I finish sand to 320, glue the scales in place, clean the blade-end with acetone, then finish sand for a final finish. Good enough for me & there's always more sanding you can do on a finished blade. I'm not taking my stuff up to 8,000, too much work, usually 600 is good enough...
 
noseoil said:
I finish sand to 320, glue the scales in place, clean the blade-end with acetone, then finish sand for a final finish. Good enough for me & there's always more sanding you can do on a finished blade. I'm not taking my stuff up to 8,000, too much work, usually 600 is good enough...
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I was just told that the adhesive on blue painters tape will react with high carbon steels and leave marks...I think that’s what’s happening to me.
 
Outdoor Gear Dad said:
So I don’t know what I am doing wrong here....I finish my grinds, a surface grind, sand, put my mark on it....looks great. I tape it up with blue painters tape. Put the handle on, hand sand, blah blah blah. When I take that tape off, it’s like my blade is all ugly, there’s discoloration, marks from the tape, it just doesn’t look the same. I clean it off with everything I have, but it still doesn’t look clean anymore. Best practices please?
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Sometimes I rub Vaseline around the base of the blade when attaching the scales to keep glue overspill off of the blade. You could try rubbing a thin coat over your blade before taping it up.
 
TheEdge01 said:
Sometimes I rub Vaseline around the base of the blade when attaching the scales to keep glue overspill off of the blade. You could try rubbing a thin coat over your blade before taping it up.
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Yeah it’s defiantly not from the epoxy. The marks are coming from the tape.
 
I sprayed the last one with wd40, wrapped in kitchen towel paper and then with the cheapo yellow tape.
 
Outdoor Gear Dad said:
I was just told that the adhesive on blue painters tape will react with high carbon steels and leave marks...I think that’s what’s happening to me.
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I don t think that tape can react with steel , more i think that glue on tape clean your steel .When I pop up cured epoxy from ricaso ALWAYS that place look brighter , more clean then rest of steel .Wrap blade in paper and over that use tape and see how that would work...Carbon steel catch patina fast ....
 
Take plumbers tape and wrap the blade.
Then over wrap with black electric tape and stretch it as you wrap.

You're welcome
 
I was told that something in the adhesive of blue painter's tape can etch carbon steel. I switched to wrapping with newspaper and then taping, but the previous suggestions all sound good too!
 
I wrap the blade in paper towel and then wrap with blue tape. I like Adam's method. I'll have to give it a try.
 
I came up with it out of desperation.

I did all the typical things, blue tape, wd40, paper towel etc.

Blue tape would stain the blade, oil attracts dust and shop grit, and paper towels sometimes scratched the blade as well.

The teflon tape is clean, smooth as silk, lays flat and protects the blade. Black tape really locks it into place.
The best part is when you take it off , it comes off easily with not residue and not scratches.
 
I've been coating my blade in thick coats of gunstock wax and then taping - that works but is a mess to clean up. I'll have to try the Teflon tape too!
 
I like using phone book paper wrapped around the blade, then electrical tape.
 
Outdoor Gear Dad said:
So I don’t know what I am doing wrong here....I finish my grinds, a surface grind, sand, put my mark on it....looks great. I tape it up with blue painters tape. Put the handle on, hand sand, blah blah blah. When I take that tape off, it’s like my blade is all ugly, there’s discoloration, marks from the tape, it just doesn’t look the same. I clean it off with everything I have, but it still doesn’t look clean anymore. Best practices please?
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Another vote for fresh new belts. Use belts as if they were free. I use 50-60 of the grit bevel grinding & then they go into the profiling etc pile...Also when you’re happy with your grinds. Spray it down “with clean hands” and wipe it dry with paper towels. before you wrap it up in blue tape. It’s acids etc from your skin that are discoloring the blade.
 
I have seen the reaction you are talking about. I use boos block board cream which is a mixture of beeswax and mineral oil. A very light coat should keep blue tape from reacting but still allow it to stick.
I put it on, then take most of it off with a cleanex.
When I mount the handle I peel the tape away from the handle / blade joint and clean up epoxy with Q-tip and alcohol.
Western or Wa handle work roughly the same.
 
I used blue tape once on bare steel ... got the same thing you did. As I recall, goo gone got most of the marking off (but not all). Never again. These days I wrap the blade in paper and make kind of a taped up “sheath” that the blade can be slid out of if needed. Very quick, and seems to protect the blade well enough
 
Turtle wax and 3M blue tape have always worked for me. I have found that not all blue tape is the same.
 
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