Stripped my Junglas...

This might be a dumb question, but considering I'm a noob I'm gonna ask. What are the downfalls or risks to the blade that may occur from doing this?

By the way it looks great! The reason for my question is I'm considering doing this...
 
Nothing55 said:
Did you consider pollishing (buffing) it to a smooth finish...and if so why not?
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, the blade feels "smooth", but the patina causes it to have a coarser look. I have the skills and tools to put a mirror polish on a knife, but I chose not to for several reasons...

1. I use this knife HARD. A polished blade would readily show scratches and scuffs after even light use. It would need a lot of maintenance to keep the polish looking good.
2. 1095 steel is susceptible to corrosion when exposed to moisture. A polished blade looks good, but has very little protection from corrosion. A patina protects from this. I did it to my Izula, and have worn it around my neck and in my pocket and taken it kayaking and camping and a multitude of other things, and I haven't had to sand it or buff any corrosion out at all. I hardly even clean it!
3. I love the look of a patina on a user knife. It just screams "use me" in my opinion, and I love that look.


Bizarro Tactical said:
This might be a dumb question, but considering I'm a noob I'm gonna ask. What are the downfalls or risks to the blade that may occur from doing this?

By the way it looks great! The reason for my question is I'm considering doing this...
Click to expand...

There are very few risks to doing this if it is done properly. I have heard reports of the chemical causing some "pitting", a form of corrosion, on the knife after the coating has been removed. I have not observed this myself, but with the chemical I use it only takes literally 10 minutes and the coating is toast.

You do also need to inspect the knife for "red rust" after you have forced the patina on your blade. And red rust would need to be sanded out. Red rust = BAD.

Honestly though, these are the same risks associated with improper maintenance of any knife. A patina looks cool, protects your knife, and can be change down the road.

If you don't like how it looks, you can always remove the patina and put a mirror polish on it if you'd like. :D

JGON
 
Great Job, Looking Good !
I plan on stripping my Junglas soon but I will leave the paint under the scales as added protection from rust from sweaty hands...
 
IIs there any chance that this process could make the etchings (logo, serial number, etc.) disappear? I thought that they would be almost invisible. I didn't want to do this to my 6 because it has the old rat cutlery logo, but if there is no chance of losing that then i might try it. Thanks and that looks awesome. -Tyler :thumbup:
 
JGON........outstanding! I have my first ESEE knife (ESEE 6) coming in for Christmas. I'd already planned to remove the coating, but am still debating to polish or patina. You've made my decision even harder now. I'm leaning more towards the patina because as you've mentioned, it's far less maintenance. Again....outstanding job. What a good looking blade!
 
JGON,

Excellent job. The knife looks beautiful, it'll be an awesome user. Concerning patina and red rust when I first did my Izy I thought I had the whole thing clean and went to put patina on it. After patina the whole thing had a layer of red rust. It seems there was another layer on the thing, I don't know what it was. I gave the whole knife a light sand and patinad it again. It came out just like I expected, no red rust.

God bless,
Adam
 
I'd love to see a polished Junglas. It wouldn't be good for use and I wouldn't buy a polished version, but I bet it'd look killer.
 
The great part is that with the work the scales will get darker and darker.the whole knife will take on a ghost-like appearance.

Now,If you could only repeat the patina pattern on the micarta............
 
I'm glad someone finally had the guts to do this. Really looks good....but I won't be doing it to mine. I honestly like it as is. Good job though. :thumbup:
 
I wanted a junglas before, after seeing it stripped....I HAVE to have one! That is BEAUTIFUL!!! Well done man.
 
Awesome post and Pics!

Thanks for the descriptive tutorial part - I've been wanting to do this to my Izula but wasn't sure how to go about it - now I'll give it a try this weekend! :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the feedback everybody! I'm very happy with how it turned out.

johntylermclain said:
IIs there any chance that this process could make the etchings (logo, serial number, etc.) disappear? I thought that they would be almost invisible. I didn't want to do this to my 6 because it has the old rat cutlery logo, but if there is no chance of losing that then i might try it. Thanks and that looks awesome. -Tyler :thumbup:
Click to expand...

The laser etching goes a ways into the steel... stripping it only made the logo's more subtle because they aren't on a black background anymore. They will come off if you sand or polish the blade though...

Texas Tony Dobbs- I forced the patina under the handle also, so I'm hoping that prevents any rust under the scales, but I am going to check it every now and then to make sure it's good to go...

Whoever decides to strip their Junglas next should put some time in polishing the blade... You can always put a patina on later! I have to admit, I'd love to see one, even though I wouldn't do it for my user Junglas...

Thanks again,

JGON
 
If someone provides the Junglas I'll provide the elbow grease. :D I imagine you'd have to worry about blinding yourself while chopping up the woods.

God bless,
Adam
 
I've not got the balls to do that to my junglas... but I would love to convex it then give it a satin finish, naturally growing patina.

J-Gon, that looks like you've used it for years.... on zombies. :D
 
I tried to strip and patina my potbelly last night. The jasco epoxy remover was great and i stripped it with no problem, but i put half a packet of mustard on it, spread it around and expected a patina, but it didnt do much after sitting for almost an hour.

The knife did seem to take a patina only right by the edge where the factory epoxy was worn off from chopping wood. Do I need to sand it a little bit? It does look really cool where the patina did form. Thanks for any help. - Tyler
 
WOW just WOW!

Looks gorgeous - I lover mustard and vinegar patinas - especially how they give the blade a purplish/blue tint in the sun....

Haven't stripped any of my ESEEs (only done patinas on my Barkies) but now I might have to.

Excellent work!
 
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