Preventing Tape Fouling on Blade

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Beanman13

Joined
Feb 18, 2006
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I cut a lot of tape opening boxes daily at work and before lunchtime I have to wash the blade to remove the adhesive fouling that accumulates on the blade. Does anyone have any recommendations for oils, coatings, or even other methods to prevent or reduce this buildup? If it helps I'm using a mini Ritter grip S30V. I put Eezox on it with little difference. I've considered thinning the bevel out further to see if less shoulder would mean less accumulation, but I figured I'd ask the experts before delving into this.

Thanks,
Zed
 
WD40 should break down the adhesives in the tape.
Squirt wipe repeat.
 
There's not much you can do to prevent the goo sticking, except to use a cheap box cutter and save your knife.
WD 40, Goo Gone, or lighter fluid will remove the tape adhesive.
 
You can remove it also by stickig a fresh tape and pull it off. Some oil on the blade edge should help preventing the glue sticking, but oil is not always available in office, at least in my case.
 
Just remember that you'll be eating the oil you choose, if you're cutting lunch with that knife.

Get a Gerber Replace a Blade, it's about the smallest box cutter there is, cheap too, $9 at Wally World.
 
I usually use Goo Gone for this. You could, if you wanted to, saturate a rag or paper towel with it, and put that in a zip-loc bag in your pocket (or desk, locker, etc.). Just periodically wipe down the blade with it, before the accumulation gets too heavy. Obviously, the same could be done with other cleaners, depending on your preference. The Goo Gone leaves a bit of oily residue on the surface. That might help a little, in cutting down on more stuff sticking to the blade after you've wiped it down. WD-40 might help in that regard too (it leaves a little oil behind).

As previously suggested, it might be simpler to just use a box-cutter for that 'dirty work'. :)
 
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Lighter fluid is my favorite goo remover. But it cleans the blade a little too well and will encourage more goo to stick to the blade if you don't oil it again right away. WD-40 might be your best bet for this situation.
 
Beanman13 said:
I cut a lot of tape opening boxes daily at work and before lunchtime I have to wash the blade to remove the adhesive fouling that accumulates on the blade. Does anyone have any recommendations for oils, coatings, or even other methods to prevent or reduce this buildup? If it helps I'm using a mini Ritter grip S30V. I put Eezox on it with little difference. I've considered thinning the bevel out further to see if less shoulder would mean less accumulation, but I figured I'd ask the experts before delving into this.

Thanks,
Zed
Click to expand...

try wiping the blade with USP mineral oil every once in a while, while using it. that should help prevent a lot of the glue from sticking and also help remove some of the stuck glue, plus it's food safe. also, when you are washing your knife, use hot water.
 
I'll have to try some different oils and the tape trick. We have tons of stuff I can use at work I just normally don't have much downtime for blade maintenance while at work. I tried the box cutter for a day a while back but was a lot slower with it. I think the mini grip is just what my muscle memory is trained to. I considered carrying a second knife (besides the small food prep knife in my lunch box) but was really hoping just for something to reduce or eliminate the buildup. Trying to travel lighter these days.

Thanks all for the replies and suggestions.
Zed
 
I don't know if it will work, but I wonder if polishing the blade will help, or maybe a rough finish? I'll see if I can test this out later today.

Another idea, maybe you can apply a Teflon or other non-stick coating to the blade, just a thought.
 
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I use a SAK Minichamp for tasks like that...their stainless blades are polished and very smooth....still get excessive buildup. Those WD-40 pens work great...less messy and you can wipe the blade with the felt like tip and let it saturate the gunk and then it wipes right off. Usually grab them occasionally at a home supply warehouse at checkout for 99 cents.

I do find that if you just score the tape seam on a box with a knife, you can usually get it to rip cleanly the rest of the way if you use a quick and steady motion...that helps reduce some of the gunk buildup also.

John
 
I'd considered the polish of the bevel, but haven't taken/had the time to go through the grits to try a sub-micron polished edge. I've been working with a DMT fine edge lately. I like a stropped keen edge but it hasn't been very practical to maintain at work cutting hose, banding, tape cardboard etc.

Anyone have any suggestions for a blade oil or synthetic that contains teflon or PTFE? I'll probably try the USP mineral oil too, mainly because it's more readily available. I too started reducing the amount of tape I'm cutting by pulling on the box flaps while cutting. It helps a lot, but I still encounter the residue.

Thanks again for everyone's input. Everyone here has always been so willing to help.
 
you might try a coarser edge and not such a high polish. read the post in the link i posted above. you will see the other knife was sharpened on diamond stones and did not fare so well.
 
I recently found a hint on a site I can't remember that suggested using peanut butter to remove residue from blades. I have tried it, and it works if you dont use too much pressure. I assume the combination of oil, and the abrasives in the peanut do the trick...and there are no worries for future food prep.
 
I generally use Remoil on my knives that I oil. It stays in place a little better than the more volitile oils like WD40, and it has some teflon in it. It is also fairly cheap. I buy it for my guns, but use it on anything else that I need to oil. Another option could be applining some white lithium grease to the blade, just a thin coat. Boxes are going to do a good job of removing any type of coating applied though, so you might want to keep an oiled rag handy and wipe you blade down every few boxes to clean and recoat the blade.
 
Hi RichardJ. I did read it, but hadn't yet responded. I looked and I was finishing with a DMT coarse, not fine as I'd indicated. I can't imagine needing a much more coarse edge than that. I went through the grit progression this evening and finished with a .25 micron paste loaded strop. Mostly just to satisfy my curiosity about the residue building up less on a more refined surface finish. I was told by a physics professor about a phenomenon where metals can fuse in a vacuum when their surfaces are finely finished. Seems like a similar phenomenon could account for increased adhesion at various levels of finish.

Coyote; I too use remoil, and I wasn't aware it had teflon in it. I like it well, but as you noted it wears off easily. Very coincidentally I tried white lithium grease we keep in a spray can at work just today. I really liked the outcome, and with the coarse finished edge it was still many times easier to remove what little buildup occurred. I left some of the grease on a shop towel and used it once in the afternoon just to reapply. I was very impressed. Since I polished the edge tonight I'm going to re-coat the blade with the lithium and give it a go tomorrow. I'll let you know what I find.
 
maybe you need to try a convex edge on top of a coarser finish. i think the combination of convex edge and coarser finish might be the ticket. take kitchen knives with the dimples ground into the blade to make food release instead of stick.
some boat makers have been experimenting with dimpled finishes on boats to make them go faster.
 
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