Ignorant Newbie Question about removing coating

[Col Defender]

Lot's to learn here. I kind of like the look of a coated blade - I guess the contrast between the dark blade and its shiny edge and of course whatever color the handle is. And the coating prevents rust.

On the other hand I have also seen pics of some very nice knives with the coating stripped off one way or the other. I'd like to hear a variety of opinions about why coating should be removed and also the best way to do it if I were decide to try.

Thanks

Steve

 

[LECTER]

Removing the coating allows the blade to cut better and a good heavy-duty stripper will take it off in a few minutes.

There are a ton of threads with different methods.

 

[rivertamer]

It is very easy to remove the coating....... Strong stripper and a plastic scraper..... The hardest part is deciding on how to proceed after the blade is cleaned.....I added a Sriracha hot sauce patina..... Just striped the blade with sauce.... Let it sit for 30 minutes..... Clean it off and rinsed in tray of water with baking soda mixed in to stop reaction...... Add micarta and finished...

 

[Psyop]

This one has a food patina. Tomatoes, mustard, potatoes, peppers, all kinds of stuff. I left the coating on the handle for protection. You can baton off the coating, sand or strip.

 

[Col Defender]

This one has a food patina. Tomatoes, mustard, potatoes, peppers, all kinds of stuff. I left the coating on the handle for protection. You can baton off the coating, sand or strip.

And a Blue Handle too... think I remember that now. Maybe someday I will try this. Have never heard of Sriracha hot sauce - I wonder if any hot sauce would strip coating and leave a patina besides??

 

[rivertamer]

Pretty darn delicious.....Bladite said he would lick it off the blade.....

Most grocery stores have it now
....

 

[clich]

I prefer the look of the two tone "Fisk stripe" which is accomplished with a belt sander and watching the Jerry Fisk sharpening videos. Not to mention it makes em cut like a lightsaber

 

[EagleScouter]

Nothing ignorant about wanting to learn. That's why we're all here. Strippers with Methylene chloride in them work the best/fastest. But be careful with it as the fumes are nasty and potentially dangerous. Be sure to do it outside or in a well ventilated area.

 

[clich]

But if you want a cool patina, the grapefruit makes a cool pattern. Slice it up and sandwich the blade between the slices over night

 

[Col Defender]

But if you want a cool patina, the grapefruit makes a cool pattern. Slice it up and sandwich the blade between the slices over night

Clich - do you remove the coating first and then do the grapefruit thing (2 step process) or does the grapefruit do it all??

Thanks

Steve

 

[B.Mauser]

You have to remove the coating first Col Defender. Most use a stripper for that. The hot sauce or grapefruit or whatever is applied after to force the patina.

 

[Nsvens89]

Its my understanding that the blade coating needs to be removed first, the chemical reaction that causes the patina happens with the acid in the food you eat. But this acid won't remove the epoxy paint.

 

[Nsvens89]

Looks like mauser beat me to the response he is absolutely correct though

 

[clich]

Strip it and semi polish (since the blade will be a dark grey under the coating). Then sandwich it between the grapefruit slices

 

[B.Mauser]

Sandpaper to polish it?

 

[parbajtor]

Brake fluid also works well as a coating stripper.

 

[camoninja]

If you have no stripper you can use a razor blade to strip it. Took me about 15 minutes to do my BK2 that way.

 

[Foldingsoup101]

But if you want a cool patina, the grapefruit makes a cool pattern. Slice it up and sandwich the blade between the slices over night

Would this work on the 154cm on my ZT 0200 as well?

 

[Liveitloud]

You will find a lot of patina interest in the Becker area. There are no ignorant questions. Believe me, if there are, I have asked them all.

I used the spray on stripper on my BK11. Let it sit 10 minutes and scraped it off with a plastic putty knife. Went ahead and sprayed it down and repeated the process one more time to get the rest of the finish off. Washed it really good with soap and water and dried it off.

Then submerged it in 2 cups of vinegar with about 3/4 a cup of water and let it set for 15 minutes. Took it out and put baking soda on it and washed it again with soap and water. Then used some really fine steel wool on it and finished it up with a light coating of mineral oil. It went from looking like the 1st pic to the 3nd pic.

It was fun, easy and really looked good to me anyway.

 

[bearedmonkey]

Been thinking about stripping a Becker and I've got a question -- if you patina a blade and then decide you don't like it, can you still polish it, or have you somehow stained the metal for good?