removing epoxy splattered on blade

[manassas dragon]

the knife i am making has powder coating on the blade. iinadvertantly i left some epoxy on the blade when i was putting on the grips. any suggestions for removing the epoxy w/o messing up the powder coating?

 

[rocketmann]

warm the epoxy with a hair dryer/ heat gun and peel it off.

 

[manassas dragon]

thanks, i'll try that.

 

[aarongb]

I use a scraper made from a square rod of brass with a chisel point. Not sure how powder coat will stand up to that.

 

[Smithy]

Try acetone, available at your local paint store. Apply some acetone to a rag and rub the epoxy. It will dissolve the epoxy with no damage or marking on the blade. Wear gloves. ...Teddy

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Goldsmitty,
The acetone will probably destroy the powder coating.

 

[Willie71]

I have had some good luck with the hard "plastic" scrapers in the kitchen section of Canadian Tire that are intended to scrape glass cooktops. Don't know how the PC will hold up though.

I have tried to use chemical strippers with powder coating. I had to leave the item in a bucket of stripper overnight, and even then it only partially came off. Its pretty durable.

 

[artney_iv]

Try acetone, available at your local paint store. Apply some acetone to a rag and rub the epoxy. It will dissolve the epoxy with no damage or marking on the blade. Wear gloves. ...Teddy

could you use a similar technique to remove the epoxy that seeps out around the base of the blade where it meets the handle? Or would this risk destroying the bond between the scale and the steel?

 

[phillipsted]

I usually find that the heat gun approach works well - at least it softens the epoxy a little so it loosens its grip a little.

FYI - the way to minimize this problem in the future is to coat the choil and guard area liberally with some paste wax before you epoxy. Put it anywhere you don't want the epoxy to stick. Just beware of getting any on the tang where you DO want the epoxy to stick.

TedP