Removing protective coating from Damascus

[trevitrace]

Good evening, hope it finds you well.

A friend of mine recently asked me to sharpen a set of knives for him. I don't see any inherent difficulty sharpening Damascus over other steels that I've worked with (unless, of course, I'm overlooking an important factor or difference, please let me know) except upon inspecting them, I noticed a potential hiccup.

They're new, he got them for around $30, though he can't recall exactly how much, on a business trip to Japan years ago. They still have the thick layer of what seems in both smell and viscosity to be axle grease (?) on them and I would like to remove this crude before beginning the sharpening. Don't want the gunk all over my home/sharpening equipment/dog/etc.

Also don't want to use any solvent that might ruin or blemish the patterns on the blades, as inexpensive as they may be...if that's a possibility to begin with. I assume a little Dawn would do the trick, but if there's a safe and more efficacious alternative, I'm all ears.


Thanks for your time, cheers,
Adam

 

[gadgetgeek]

the first thing I would try would be boiling water. dawn would be a good pick, if you need something stronger, I would carefully try simple green, or an orange peel cleaner like TKO. Those should do it. another option would be a petroleum solvent, like camping gas, but I wouldn't do that if it had raw wood handles, since it would be hard to keep the solvent and the chemical stink out of the wood (not ideal for kitchen knives)

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

If it's just a petroleum-based grease, WD-40 may be enough to remove the worst of it. Wipe the heavy stuff off with a rag, then use a WD-40-moistened rag or paper towel to get the rest of it; WD-40 won't harm the etch/patina at all. Using the moistened rag will avoid any risk of issues with wood handles, though WD-40 won't harm that either, in all likelihood, as long as you're not soaking it. I'd avoid anything acidic/caustic like citrus-based cleaners. Simple Green is alkaline in pH (~9.5 +/- 0.5) and can generate oxidation & rust; I noticed this when using it as a lubricant on a sharpening stone, as it left rust spots on my 1095 blade.

Mineral spirits might also help, if the WD-40 isn't enough. For the sake of sharpening the blade, you don't necessarily have to strip all of the grease away; just enough to keep it from messing up your sharpening gear.


David

 

[trevitrace]

Thanks for the responses, fellas. I just went ahead and used dish soap. Figured I'd try the mildest thing first. Took a little bit of effort but seemed to do the trick.