How To Is there an easy way to clean off forge gunk from knife kit parts?

[ErikMB]

Hi All,

I purchased several knife kits from France and they arrived with a fair amount of soot and dirt on them.

I have been cleaning them with a Dremmel and sanding bits but I am wondering if there is an easier way to do this, at least to clean them. Can I soak them in a liquid overnight without rusting them? Blades are stainless (Inox and/or 12C27).

I have about 30 pieces so I'd like to avoid spending 30-90 minutes on each piece to get it semi-shiny.

Any advice?

 

[Alex Topfer]

a photo might be useful here? scale can be dissolved with various mild acids, if it's gunk from quenching that won't help.
you can always try a wire wheel

 

[Pinoy Knife]

scotchbrite wheel/belt maybe??
hard to advise with no idea of how the parts are.. pictures would be helpfull

 

[ErikMB]

Here is a photo. The contrast did not show up very well but you can sort-of see the pieces on the outsides have been polished some and the two pieces in the middle are untouched. Note that I am referring to metal pieces and not scales (scales were mentioned in a post above).

The springs look profoundly different in person.

I am just wondering if there is something I can soak the pieces in for a while so some of the crud comes off. I'll have to sand and polish them anyway but maybe there's a first step that can make it a little faster.

Thanks for your responses, folks!

 

[Alex Topfer]

scale is different to scales. useful i know
scale is the iron oxide that forms on steel when heated up for forging or heat treating

that looks like glue residue or general gunk to me. i would try acetone for that, although you will probably need to scrub it with a cloth or something. saves it clogging the sandpaper at least

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Soak it in some sandpaper.

 

[ErikMB]

That's pretty funny, Bill. ;-)