Paint Stripper Impact on Knife Steel...

JGON

JGON

Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Messages
975
Hey All,

I noticed when I stripped the black coating off my Izula that the knife went from razor sharp to very dull after the process... I used a paint stripper from Ace Hardware to do the job, and I'm wondering if this chemical has any permanent impact on the knife steel.

It sharpened up just fine, but I hadn't had it very long before I stripped it, so it's hard for me to compare it's post stripping performance vs. it's original condition.

Are there any metallurgy experts out there that can assist with this question? I want to strip my Junglas soon, and it would be interesting to know.

Do chemicals like this have any impact on the integrity of the steel, as far as heat treatment or any of that? The chemicals are pretty gnarly and can burn your skin if you touch them, so I feel it's a legitimate question.
 
jgon said:
Hey All,

I noticed when I stripped the black coating off my Izula that the knife went from razor sharp to very dull after the process... I used a paint stripper from Ace Hardware to do the job, and I'm wondering if this chemical has any permanent impact on the knife steel.

It sharpened up just fine, but I hadn't had it very long before I stripped it, so it's hard for me to compare it's post stripping performance vs. it's original condition.

Are there any metallurgy experts out there that can assist with this question? I want to strip my Junglas soon, and it would be interesting to know.

Do chemicals like this have any impact on the integrity of the steel, as far as heat treatment or any of that? The chemicals are pretty gnarly and can burn your skin if you touch them, so I feel it's a legitimate question.
Click to expand...

No.

The chemicals can and will patina the steel though. If powerful enough it could pit or rust the steel, I don't know the chemical make-up but I'd be guessing there is acid in most of them which would explain the edge loss and patina issues.
 
many paint strippers contain methylene chloride. this stuff will dissolve vinyl tile in 4 minutes. has no effect on wood but i'm guessing it could be corrosive on metal.
dennis
 
It is vey corrosive, so it could cause it to rust, so you should clean it off well. It may have coroded the edge, but it shouldn't change the molecular structure of entire piece of metal, it might have a slight effect on the surface molecules but that would probably be in some form of corrosion. You probably just corroded off the very edge, resharpen it and you should be good to go. What I can tell you for certain (don't ask how though), is that if you ever accidently gorilla glue your hand, that will eat that stuff away in a second or two. :thumbup:
 
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