Long term stripped coating reviews???

myright

myright

Gold Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2008
Messages
5,145
Hey fellas - I've got an RC3 inbound and have been contemplating stripping the coating from the handle forward.

I've read a lot of about you guys stripping the blades and am very interested in hearing some reviews from people that have stripped the blades and have been using the knife for a while with the stripped blade. How do you feel it's holding up over time? How is the patina/staining/rust?

Also - is there a good tutorial anywhere for stripping this coating?

Thanks in advance.
 
My Izula has never had a coating on it and it's been fine. Any (rare) time it starts staining I just remove it. :)
 
DSCN1703.jpg
[/IMG]
DSCN1702.jpg
[/IMG]

I have had this RC3 for about two years. It was stripped just after I got it as new, after heavy coating wear. I was not gentle on this RC3 by any means. It has seen some tuff use, batoning, field dressing whitetail, fresh & salt water fishing, hiking, camping & the list continues. There have not been any issues with the bare 1095 steel to date. As hard as I am on it, I am just as good with cleaning & wiping it down with mineral oil after each use. I like the blade stripped & it cuts like a monster!
 
Jeff S1 said:
I have had this RC3 for about two years. It was stripped just after I got it as new, after heavy coating wear. I was not gentle on this RC3 by any means. It has seen some tuff use, batoning, field dressing whitetail, fresh & salt water fishing, hiking, camping & the list continues. There have not been any issues with the bare 1095 steel to date. As hard as I am on it, I am just as good with cleaning & wiping it down with mineral oil after each use. I like the blade stripped & it cuts like a monster!
Click to expand...

How did you take the coating off? Did you remove the slabs? If so, did the go back on as securely as when they were new?

SS
 
I removed the coating with a combo of chemical stripper & scraping. I left the coating under the slabs for corrosion protection. The slabs went back on just fine, no issues. There was a very tiny difference in thickness on the edge around the handle between the slabs. It is so small it is almost not worth mentioning...but to be exact I wanted to note it. I also sanded the screw faces as they are stainless and brighten it up a bit.
 
I have several of mine with the coatings stripped and haven't had any trouble with the blades. On a couple I've let a patina develop. On others I just hit them up with mineral oil and 1000grit sandpaper and they shine right up.

On the first ones I stripped I actually removed the slabs. There are two problems with this. First, the slabs are fit with the coating, so they don't line up as well without it. As a result I've had to sand down the micarta to get them to mate. Second, since micarta is permeable water can penetrate down to the metal and cause rusting. I've applied a patina under the slabs to retard rusting, but I still have to remove the slabs occasionally to check for rust. Since then I've stuck with leaving the slabs on when stripping the coating so the coating protects under the handles and to alleviate having to re-mate the slabs to the blade.
 
I just gun-blued my RC-3...it's still coated, just not with the epoxy! Haven't had any problems with rust under the scales since the coating doesn't wear when it's covered.
 
I have an uncoated Izula thats seen heavy use and has had minimal staining and rust issues.

You have to remember, this is good ol' 1095 were dealing with. The steel far outdates blade coatings and it's always been a favorite.
 
I have not touched my Rat knives, they seem to be just fine with the coating...but, I stripped a Ranger RD-4 and a RD-6. Here is the RD-4

before

and after
I have had no rust issues, just wipe down before storing.

RD-6 after

RD-6 during
 
Cool - thanks for the info fellas. I pretty much figured with a little care there would be no issues at all.

We'll see what happens when the knife is in hand and I have a chance to mess around with it a bit. I used to have a SWAT RC3 and I really didn't like all the writing on the blade. That's really the main reason for wanting to remove the coating.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top