Removing black blade coating from SRK

I used a spray stripper from my local Ace Hardware. Kleen-strip/Redi-Strip, don't remember the name. Spray on, wipe off in 5 minutes. This was on a Schrade X-T1B Camp Knife. Came off clean in one spraying, and the metal underneath was nicely finished, not crap covered over with paint to hide it. I wouldn't heat a blade, not if you like your knives correctly tempered. I just didn't like the blackening on this one. Paint finish was good, but I wanted it bright. And what is the black paint supposed to protect the blade from? Mine is stainless steel anyway. Aren't yours?

Codger
 
cucharadedragon said:
After 10 minutes coating is coming off with no problems.
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heh, too late to warn you I guess, but be advised, that SRK will spot up from food-stuffs, tarnish from moisture, etc. after the coating is removed. Nothing terrible, but it will want a little cleaning/oiling occasionally to keep it looking good.

Codger_64 said:
And what is the black paint supposed to protect the blade from? Mine is stainless steel anyway. Aren't yours?

Codger
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Nope, to the best of my knowledge the TrailMaster and SRK discussed here are carbonV, http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=396839&highlight=carbonV , definitely not stainless. The black coating does indeed protect against corrosion but is ugly as heck. I prefer a satin finish with a gray patina on my carbon steel. I have a TrailMaster and a Master Hunter in carbonV and like them both a lot; if either had come with the black finish, the first thing I would have done was sand it off.


I've often wondered if so many blades are coated because it's cheaper/faster than extra final polishing stages... from what others in this thread have said, I'm even more inclined to beleive that. Especially on a stainless piece, which as Codger said, shouldn't need it.. except for the tactical advantage ;)
 
I was a little worried after reading some of the posts but my Recon blade is really in good shape under the black coating. It's not a really smooth finish but no pitting or blemishes. Just not quite finished. Nothing that a few grades of sandpaper won't cure. Actually, unfinished I still prefer if over the black coating. The color is a little like my HI blades after a vinager etch.
 
My best knives are 1095HC carbon steel. I got an old knife (1971) with a really rough finish, stripped it of it's patina, sanded the pits, bumps and scratches out with fine paper, degreased it, and reapplied the patina with dill pickle juice. Beautifl knife, and fairly rust resistant now. Carbon blades were a problem for Schrade for many years. They could rust in shipment and storage, and unknowledgable ownere felt that the patina meant it was cheap, inferior steel. Old Timers know better, but Schrade finally gave in and made running changes on almost all of their knives to stainless in the '90s.

Best protection from corrosion and "spotting" on carbon knives is to give them a good deep patina, then coat it with a good food grade oil if you will be using it for all your cutting, or light machine oil if not. Warm oil soaks in better. Or you can buy a can of black krylon and paint them. Mall Ninjas do.:D

Codger
 
:thumbup: to Codger_64 and cucharadedragon... Codger, I empahatically agree with that entire post. I'm a big fan of 1095, and when I found out carbonV was basically 1095 with a bit more alloy, I was sold. In my experience it performs and sharpens as well or better.

Cucha, do a search here on hand rubbing and you'll see you're on the right track to getting a nice finish on that blade. This link is great: http://www.homestead.com/beknivessite2/handrubbing.html .

Do a search on patina and you'll find more good advice like Codger_64's, on acid-etching to get that fine layer of corrosion on the blade. Or, just use it for normal camp-type tasks (cutting firewood, preparing food, etc), and wipe it clean after each use. The patina will develop over time and probably not be as uniform. Whether or not this is a bad thing is up to you. If you want a character-laden patina REAL FAST, just get the knife good and gunked-up from chopping/splitting firewood in the rain, and let it fester in a leather sheath for a couple days :D This will reduce the "curb appeal" of the knife greatly, but not hurt its usefullness one bit.

Next thing ya know, yer gonna wanna put a nice new handle on that SRK :)
 
Azsoldier said:
And how would one go about re handling an SRK?

I want pics and step by step instructions!
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About the same way you'd rehandle anything else :) I have a Trailmaster I'm in the process of doing this to; I got the idea here: http://www.sunrisecustomknives.com/repairs/repairs.html

Drill out the brass thong hole tube, or cut it off after the Kraton is loose (easier). The Kraton handle material cuts easily with a razor. Just slice slowly around the seam of the handle and it will come right off. Be aware, the guard on the MS and SRK is integral to the handle, so you'd have to A) cut the handle off very carefully, leaving the exisiting guard in place, or B) fashion a new guard to the SAME shape out of brass, NS whatever. Otherwise I don't think the knife will snap into the Kydex sheath like it should. I suspect plan A) wouldn't work too well, there'd be a weird fit and feel between the rubbery guard and a hard handle.

I'm going to make a new guard of nickel silver and use handle slabs of stabilized curly maple. The slabs will need channels cut into them to accept the tang, then will be expoxied in place with a NS pin or two for good measure. Probably use the existing hole in the tang for the lanyard hole.

While the knife is all torn apart, take a rat-tail file or similar and radius out the inside corners where the tang becomes the blade. They come from the factory at nearly right angles. It seems a lot of blade failures take place right at that point, and I've been told rounding out the transition releives a lot of stress. I've already done it to the TM and it was easier than you might think; also, I only "lost" an 1/8" of blade length, prolly less actually. The fun part is filing the face of the guard so it fits flush against the blade again.

I decided once and for all to re-handle the TM after a night camping, gathering/cutting/splitting firewood with it in a pouring rain. The whole time it felt like the thing was gonna take off into the woods every time I swung it, more because of the handle's shape than the material. On the other hand, my Master Hunter's Krap-ton handle is quite comfortable and secure so it may well stay as it is... of course, then it wouldn't match the TM :\

See? Ask me a silly question and I'll talk all day!
 
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