How to take coating off question

James w

James w

Joined
Aug 6, 2015
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951
I have a hk soldat bk 15 and kabar short I want to take the coating off of them all if I do take it off with paint stripper what will it look like after that? Would it look polished? If not how would I polish the blade cheaply? Pics would help thx
 
The BK 15 will most likely have a slight stonewash after stripping it. This is what my 14 looked like. I used paint stripper, just let it soak over night and scraped it with a plastic scraper and brass brush for the hard to get to spots.
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It'll likely have some pitting on the flats of the blade, and grind lines down the bevel and will be a gray color. Atleast every Becker I've stripped has, to cheaply polish would be sand paper and many hours of elbow grease to smooth it out and polish. Or acquire assistance from a power sander.
ddfYWxh.jpg
 
All of mine have had very obvious machining marks on the blade. A maker wouldn't spend the time or money to polish a blade and then coat it. I think that for some companies coatings allow them to save on the finishing of the steel. Are you going to use this knife? Polishing 1095 doesn't make a lot of sense to me considering how easily it stains. I have a bk15 and I stripped it with acetone but other solvents should work too and be a lot safer.
 
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To polish my hk soldat or my ka bars what grit sandpaper should I use? I definitely want to take the coating off the hk that's in n680 would acetone hurt it in anyway? Thx for all the info
 
bearfacedkiller said:
All of mine have had very obvious machining marks on the blade. A maker wouldn't spend the time or money to polish a blade and then coat it. I think that for some companies coatings allow them to save on the finishing of the steel. Are you going to use this knife? Polishing 1095 doesn't make a lot of sense to me considering how easily it stains. I have a bk15 and I stripped it with acetone but other solvents should work too and be a lot safer.
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Polishing actually does have its benefits on 1095. I full mirror polished a bk2 and while it does get scratched rather easy on a user it does prevent staining and rust as liquids will bead off it.

When I decided I no longer wanted it polished I first tried to cold blue it and it would not take with a polish. It would wipe off after sitting for awhile. Next I tried to just force a patina, I let it soak for hours in hot vinegar (changing it out as it cooled) and after several attempts it would not take a patina like it normally would. I ended up having to degress the polish and after several more long soaks I ended up with a satin like finish.

From use thou it didn't stain at all with a high polish.
 
James w said:
To polish my hk soldat or my ka bars what grit sandpaper should I use? I definitely want to take the coating off the hk that's in n680 would acetone hurt it in anyway? Thx for all the info
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It depends what your going for, if you want to remove any tooling and grinding marks your gonna need to start with a low grit. I started with I think 120grit (it's been awhile) to smooth out the finish, this is the grit you'll spend allot of time on getting everything smoothed out. Then you need to progress thru the grits until you get the finish you want. For a high polish you'll wanna go 200, 320, 400,600,800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, and finish with a polishing compound. You'll wanna take your time thru each grit trying to remove the scratches left by the previous grit. (I like to alternate scratch patterns on each grit)

For a light polish removing the grinding marks, again start 120 and take your time, then you can jump up to like 400, 800, and 1000 or whatever your desired finish.

To give it a light polish not worrying about removing the grind lines and tooling marks just start out at 320 or 400 and work up to the finish you want.
 
Bobby3326 said:
Polishing actually does have its benefits on 1095. I full mirror polished a bk2 and while it does get scratched rather easy on a user it does prevent staining and rust as liquids will bead off it.

When I decided I no longer wanted it polished I first tried to cold blue it and it would not take with a polish. It would wipe off after sitting for awhile. Next I tried to just force a patina, I let it soak for hours in hot vinegar (changing it out as it cooled) and after several attempts it would not take a patina like it normally would. I ended up having to degress the polish and after several more long soaks I ended up with a satin like finish.

From use thou it didn't stain at all with a high polish.
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I have polished a couple of Beckers and while you are correct that it helps prevent corrosion I guess I just meant to say that it never seemed worth the effort to me. I use my Beckers hard at times and they just get worn from use. I have never found it hard to keep 1095 from rusting and I don't mind a little discoloration. I just found it not worth the time or effort.
 
2000 or 2500 is very fine and will be shiny. You should even be able to see a hazy reflection of yourself in it but it won't be a mirror. You will have to get into polishing compounds for that. You may find that around 2000-2500 leaves a rather nice finish though.
 
I know it's not that popular but any of u have pics of the hk soldat without the coating this is what it looks like now

 
It depends on the acetone content. Nail polish remover is just acetone but some is 100% and some is much less. Acetone is cheaper at the hardware store and it is 100%. That said, it is strong stuff and very flammable, be careful. I stripped mine with 100% acetone in the pick above because I have it on hand. Regular paint thinner will be easier to work with. I have no idea what the coating on your HK is so I can't help. There is always sandpaper. ;)
 
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Could I take it all off with just sand paper of high grit if so what grit should i chose
 
bearfacedkiller said:
All of mine have had very obvious machining marks on the blade. A maker wouldn't spend the time or money to polish a blade and then coat it. I think that for some companies coatings allow them to save on the finishing of the steel. Are you going to use this knife? Polishing 1095 doesn't make a lot of sense to me considering how easily it stains. I have a bk15 and I stripped it with acetone but other solvents should work too and be a lot safer.
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If it's polished well, it'll resist staining better assuming there aren't any dips or deep scratches to trap moisture. It mostly depends on how consistent the finish is. I thinned out a gyuto with a belt sander, but went a little too far with the coarse belt. There are deep scratches left over that I can't remove with a finer belt simply because taking out any more metal is going to erase the edge. The steel is stainless AEB-L and it rusts more easily than most of my carbon steels.

Surface finish plays a pretty big role in how easily it stains.
 
Like I said, I have polished Beckers and it didn't seem worth it to me. I find that food sticks to polished knives too much so I prefer a brushed finish on stainless kitchen knives or a heavy patina on carbon blades. For a camp or bushcraft knife I just don't think it is worth my time to polish a hard use knife. Plus, I find batoning does a good job of removing corrosion anyway.

AEB-L should be very stainless. It sounds strange to me that it stains easier than a carbon steel even if the carbon steel has a heavy patina. With minimal care that shouldn't be the case.
 
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