Stripping my Naked Black Izula in 30 minutes...

Nemo said:
Thank you for the link! :)



Yes it should work.



The coating on the ESEE knives is great but sometime you want to "feel" a softer surface under your finger. It's a matter of personal preference.
I don't think it would change a lot the performance.

The grey finish on my knives seems to protect them well from moisture.
I got some uncoated 1095 knives which can rust in a blink of an eyes.

I got an RC-3 all black (the micarta is also black) and I don't have any plan to strip it. I like it this way. But my HEST and now my Izula were to tempting as I hold them a lot by their blades for fine cutting.
YMMV. :)

Cheers
Nemo
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Ahhh, I see.. That explains a lot. Thank you.
ESEE has been growing on me since last year, may be even back when I found out about RAT, and I think it got too big for me to handle.

Only thing that Im afraid of is the moment when the seeds would just pop out to spread all over me, making me buy more of them !!:D
 
Is the patina that is left after removing the paint actually some kind of primer, and not the bare steel?

The reason I ask is I had some ... well, serious problems stripping the paint off my ESEE-4. I ended up having to use some sandpaper. When I did that, it uncovered some rather serious grind marks that didn't appear through the gray that I could see before I removed the rest of the paint with sandpaper. And I'm SURE I have bare steel now, because when I cut a steak with it, I got a NICE bluish patina where the raw deer blood touched it.
 
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rockspyder said:
Is the patina that is left after removing the paint actually some kind of primer, and not the bare steel?

The reason I ask is I had some ... well, serious problems stripping the paint off my ESEE-4. I ended up having to use some sandpaper. When I did that, it uncovered some rather serious grind marks that didn't appear through the gray that I could see before I removed the rest of the pain with sandpaper. And I'm SURE I have bare steel now, because when I cut a steak with it, I got a NICE bluish patina where the raw deer blood touched it.
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Patina is basically a film of surface, rust, and patina protects the metal against further corrosion..
People use various kinds chemicals(mustard, vineger, etc..) to purposely corrode their blades for its beauty and protection.
 
mielton said:
Patina is basically a film of surface, rust, and patina protects the metal against further corrosion..
People use various kinds chemicals(mustard, vineger, etc..) to purposely corrode their blades for its beauty and protection.
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I understand what a real patina is. I've put them on various carbon knives of my own from O1 to M2 to 1095, using everything from mustard to potatoes to cold-blue. But the ... surface treatment? ... that I'm seeing on most here that are just chemically stripped doesn't look like any patina I've seen. Too regular. It DOES look like the undercoating of the paint on my ESEE-4, which certainly did not seem to be a patina. More like a primer coat. Because when I had to sand to get rid of the last part of the paint, whatever that gray underneath was disappeared, and now ... like I said... MAJOR grinding marks across the surface of the blade appeared. And NOT in the direction that I was sanding, since I was doing a uniform tang-to-tip sanding to get a uniform satin finish. These grind marks transect(?) the blade, and are curved and somewhat regular, like they are the left-over marks from the surface shaping grinder that was used for the flat-ground cross-section. They also are deeper than the trademark etching, because the etchings are GONE, and the grind marks are clearly still there.

So the reason I bring it up is I'm wondering if the grind marks I found are atypical, or are they usually there and are never seen because the "patina" under the paint is actually a primer undercoat.

Either way, I like my ESEE-4 better the way it is, even with the grind marks. BUT, before I try to strip any more, I want to know what is going on underneath the paint, if I can find out without infringing into anyone's proprietary processes or anything.
 
rockspyder said:
I understand what a real patina is. I've put them on various carbon knives of my own from O1 to M2 to 1095, using everything from mustard to potatoes to cold-blue. But the ... surface treatment? ... that I'm seeing on most here that are just chemically stripped doesn't look like any patina I've seen. Too regular. It DOES look like the undercoating of the paint on my ESEE-4, which certainly did not seem to be a patina. More like a primer coat. Because when I had to sand to get rid of the last part of the paint, whatever that gray underneath was disappeared, and now ... like I said... MAJOR grinding marks across the surface of the blade appeared. And NOT in the direction that I was sanding, since I was doing a uniform tang-to-tip sanding to get a uniform satin finish. These grind marks transect(?) the blade, and are curved and somewhat regular, like they are the left-over marks from the surface shaping grinder that was used for the flat-ground cross-section. They also are deeper than the trademark etching, because the etchings are GONE, and the grind marks are clearly still there.

So the reason I bring it up is I'm wondering if the grind marks I found are atypical, or are they usually there and are never seen because the "patina" under the paint is actually a primer undercoat.

Either way, I like my ESEE-4 better the way it is, even with the grind marks. BUT, before I try to strip any more, I want to know what is going on underneath the paint, if I can find out without infringing into anyone's proprietary processes or anything.
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I must've misunderstood what you were asking.

I'm not sure, if it's people who does the stripping and sanding not caring about the grind mark, or if it's the "primer coat" that hides the mark. And this is the first time to read about it, too.

I think the "patina" is primer coat for the better cohesion.
 
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mielton said:
I must've misunderstood what you were asking.
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I think so, but no worries. :) Thanks for the answer anyway. Just shows me that I needed to restate the question.

I'm not sure, if it's people who does the stripping and sanding not caring about the grind mark, or if it's the "primer coat" that hides the mark. And this is the first time to read about it, too.
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Same here, and is another reason I brought it up. Like I said, I really like the knife naked, but was just wondering if it was atypical

I think the "patina" is primer coat for the better cohesion.
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I'm beginning to think that is exactly it.
 
mielton said:
I'm a step away from purchasing an izula, and just for my curiosity, Why do people strip their knives?
I understand the cool factors, but does it help its performance by a lot in any way?
I guess I'll try it myself in the future....
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I believe on mine it cuts down on friction during a cut, so it will slice better, and some people dont want to use coated knives for food prep.
 
nc527 said:
I believe on mine it cuts down on friction during a cut, so it will slice better, and some people dont want to use coated knives for food prep.
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Yeah, that's what I was thinking, since the rough surface of the coat would make contact while cutting.
I, myself, would not prefer coated knife for food preps after it start to wear out either, unless it's cleanly used through out its existence.
 
The final result:
IzulaNemo.jpg
 
I stripped mine as well. Then I used some emory compound on the buffer to polish out the sand blased finish. That will just retain moisture. I then blued the knife with cold blue (as opposed to doing something like a vinegar patina).

Did the same thing on my RC-4. Used some emory paper on the blade to clean that up; the blade finish was a bit rough. Personally I don't like the epoxy "painted" finish.
 
I'm loving the new look, even more than my coated izula. Sometime when I can afford it, maybe I'll do the same. :thumbup:
 
Just did this to mine:



DSC_1650.jpg




rockspyder,
if I look very closely I can see the grind lines you refer to, so I'm thinking it is not atypical, but typical.

FYI I have noticed that with the powder coat removed, the knife rattles a little bit in the sheath. Not a big deal, just figured I'd throw it out there for anyone considering taking the plunge..
 
adaman04 said:
Not sure what he used, but I've used this kind and it works great. Available at any WM or hardware store.

img_0080-525x393.jpg
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That junk is amazing. I stripped the paint off of all the woodwork in my 90-year-old house with it. Just don't get any on your skin....
 
eloreno said:
Just did this to mine:



DSC_1650.jpg




rockspyder,
if I look very closely I can see the grind lines you refer to, so I'm thinking it is not atypical, but typical.
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Thanks eloreno.
BTW... NIIIIICE lookin' blade. :D :thumbup:
 
willworship said:
That junk is amazing. I stripped the paint off of all the woodwork in my 90-year-old house with it. Just don't get any on your skin....
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I thought only girls used gloves so I did it without any.... then I accidently touched my forehead:eek::eek:, use the gloves!!
 
Tip for u guys. Put the stripper onto the knife coating. Next wrap the item in cling,or Saran wrap. Let this sit for about 30 min which will give it better working time. From here you can hold it under a water hose and this will get almost all of the coating off leaving you nothing to scrub off.... FWIW had a little experience here. Did a writeup with pics year or so ago.
 
The gray "patina" is nothing more than a bead blasted finish. Bead blasting will hide grind marks that will be uncovered by any sanding.
 
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