Oil removal

Atlas Knife Company

Atlas Knife Company

Joined
Feb 16, 2010
Messages
3,668
Starting with a clean knife, I tape up one side and attached it to a magnetic base for hand sanding. Then, I remove from the base and clean it, putting fresh tape on the other side and sand some more. What's the best method for cleaning the oil off the blade (Mobil-1 Synthetic)? I've been using brake cleaner from an aerosol can, but it's messy. Any better ideas?
 
Do not use brake cleaner for any cleaning that is going to be followed by heating, the heat decomposition byproducts are extremely toxic. What are you using the oil for?

-Page
 
Thank you for the reminder. I can easily see myself having not thought of that and spraying a blade to clean it off before a HT. Haven't done it yet, but I could have seen myself doing it.
 
Before I etch a blade, I give a good cleaning with aceaton and the blue paper towles walmart sells. To get oil off, eigther from quenching or from preservation, I work overseas 28 & 28, is dawn dishwashing liquid and water. I've tried just about everything, and short of caustic mixed with concentrated rig soap dawn is just about the best for cutting oil. At one point I used to carry a couple bottles to the rig to shower with.

I take it your hand sanding with oil? I've done that, but for hand sanding prefer windex.
 
Mobil-1 for the wet sanding. I've tried about everything and it was a toss up between simple green and motor oil. The oil worked just a tad better and I figured oil to be better for the blade. I'll remember that about the brake clean and check for trichlor. Have to find something else to use. I tried detergent to remove the oil but it takes a lot longer than the brake cleaner.
 
Will52100 said:
...short of caustic mixed with concentrated rig soap....
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHAAAA! "Gets what's left of your levi's CLEAN!"

Aw, man, I haven't made a bucket of rig wash in too many years, but that comment brought it all back! Greetings, brother, from an old chain-chunkin' motorman!
 
here's info from a quick google of MSDS


General Information
Description

At room temperature, tetrachloroethylene is a colorless, nonviscous, nonflammable liquid. It evaporates easily and has a sweet odor. The vapors are heavier than air. Tetrachloroethylene is slightly soluble in water, and is miscible with most organic solvents and oils. Although it is considered to be quite stable, at temperatures greater than 600ºF (316ºC), it breaks down to form the poisonous gas, phosgene, and hydrogen chloride, which are potent pulmonary irritants. Tetrachloroethylene is stored in mild steel tanks equipped with breathing vents and chemical driers in cool, dry, well-ventilated locations, away from any area where fire hazard may be acute, or in glass containers.

and a similar compounnd used in cleaning is carbon Tet


4.4.1 Explosion and fire hazards

Carbon tetrachloride vapour is invisible, heavier than air and
spreads along the ground. Carbon tetrachloride is non-flammable, but
it can generate phosgene and similar toxic gases when heated to high
temperatures or when involved in a fire. Carbon tetrachloride reacts
explosively when mixed with unsaturated compounds in the presence of
peroxides or light.


-Page
 
Everyone knows that I am the safety Nazi around here,.............
but there is safety and then there is specious safety, and then there is FOAF safety stories. The quantity of residual brake cleaner ( or any volatile cleaner) left on a blade after cleaning and wiping off is negligible. The amount of phosgene gas developed would be even smaller. The MSDS cautions are aimed at not throwing it in a fire ,using it as charcoal lighter, and getting the heck out if a fire breaks out. The stories about "The guy who killed himself because he cleaned his blades with brake cleaner" belong in the same class as, "The girlfriend who killed herself on the gear shift after being slipped a Spanish Fly".
 
I had an experience in Page's Syracuse when a heated tank of degreaser got too hot , spreading fumes throughout the plant workers seemed to be oblivious !! Management seemed to only be concerned with acid damaged parts !!

Another case in CO where in very cold weather they used portable heaters in a degreaser room .20 became noticebley ill. No one knew why. I met one of them after he left work .Kind of spaced out, uncoordinated , so I asked questions .I explained what happened .
It seems despite information few know about this .Many a welder dips the work into trichlor and immediately welds !!
 
bladsmth said:
Everyone knows that I am the safety Nazi around here,.............
but there is safety and then there is specious safety, and then there is FOAF safety stories. The quantity of residual brake cleaner ( or any volatile cleaner) left on a blade after cleaning and wiping off is negligible. The amount of phosgene gas developed would be even smaller. The MSDS cautions are aimed at not throwing it in a fire ,using it as charcoal lighter, and getting the heck out if a fire breaks out. The stories about "The guy who killed himself because he cleaned his blades with brake cleaner" belong in the same class as, "The girlfriend who killed herself on the gear shift after being slipped a Spanish Fly".
Click to expand...

I'm with you in spirit here if not in practice Stacy. I put this in the same category as galvanized steel near a forge. We all know it's a bad idea, and there are examples of people being hurt by it, but we're all smart enough not to do it. So we hope.

That said, making phosgene happened to this dude, so it could happen to any one of us if the conditions were just right. Consequently, brake cleaner doesn't enter my shop, nor does galvanized steel. It's easy for any of us to make a thoughtless mistake in a moment of inattention. My preferred method to protect myself from myself is to remove the possibility of the error.

-d
 
i use dawn to get oil off everythign short of a engine block (super clean for that )
then wipe down with acetone before an etch
 
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