Stripping Woes

[mattchibi]

Tried to strip two of my old Smith and Wesson folders.

Here they are. As far as Im concerned, they are both stainless steel. The dissassembled one is the Power Glide, and the one on the right is a newer model (not sure the name)

These are my beater knives as I have upgraded and gotten better ones, and I just wanted to strip the blades to try out an acid etching technique as well as maybe some patina or high polishing.

I live in Canada, so Klean Strip Sprayable Paint Stripper is not available to me unless I order it. I bought this stuff called DS Super Remover Paint, Glue and Varnish and it supposedly takes off epoxy as well. Heres a link to info on the product: http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...+and+Varnish+Remover.jsp?locale=en#product_aa

I dissassembled both knives, sanded them down a bit with regular sandpaper and left the gel-like substance well-coated on the blades for 20 minutes, but upon checking and scraping the surface a bit, there was absolutely no change. No paint was being removed at all. So i left it for almost 50 minutes and then checked again, and no progress. I have given up and cleaned the blades.

Also a note to add: I was doing this outside, in the cold. Its probably -10 degrees Celsius right now outside, so 10 below freezing. Would the cold temps prevent the paint from stripping?

If anyone who has used this product, or is knowledgeable about these types of products or process, could give me a helping hand that would be very appreciated!


EDIT: Now that I look at it, Im not quite sure either of them have a layer of paint or coating on them. The blade on the right most definitely doesn't have a coating on it (silver one) but the Paint Stripper that I bought couldnt even take off the Smith and Wesson black inked logo. I used some more sand paper and roughed up the camo blade, and this time I used a considerable amount of force, and I was able to scrape off some of the design, but not all of it. Could it possibly be a factory-made patina? Heres an updated picture:

 

[Ebbtide]

The can of remover should have the temperature range printed on it.
It could be that the remover doesn't work on what is on the blade.

You could sand off the finish, but that is a long hard road to pretty.
A web search for beknives tutorials should show you the way.

 

[Bob W]

I have minimal experience with stripping metal and no experience with stripping knife blades, but I have a lot of experience with woodwork. Some general suggestions that you might find useful.

First off, if the product description says, "Water soluble, low odour. Non-corrosive." it's probably not much of a stripper. I don't waste time on anything that doesn't say "Professional" or "Industrial." The good stuff is horribly odorous and highly corrosive.

Strippers generally don't work well in the cold. 70-80 F is best. Too warm or in direct sun and it dries out before completing the job. Too cold and it does nothing. But the SuperRemover instructions (pdf file online here: http://superdecapant.com/wp-content/themes/twentyten/pdf/SD_2_EN.pdf ) say that stuff is supposed to work in the cold.

 

[ryxlyx]

Your "S&W" logo perhaps laser etched-- you're not going to remove melted/rehardened steel w/ chemicals.

Yes it's work to sand off a coated blade but if you can take the time, it's worth it. I run 320 to 3000, end up w/ a near polish (done several). You also remove all the orig grind lines in the process.

 

[mattchibi]

Forgot to update the thread.

So later that night, I got impatient and I poured a bunch of the DS Super Remover gel onto my new BK-11. Checked after 30 minutes and it was starting to curl and peel away, but I could tell after scraping it with a knife it needed more time. I left it for about 30 minutes later and then I started scraping. Took me like another 30 minutes of scraping, before I figured out some of the paint was still stuck on, so I had to re-apply the gel for 30 minutes, and eventually I got 99% of it off.

I think the cold did not help at all, and in the future Im going to do it in the basement with the windows open. It did however strip the paint pretty decently. Those two first blades were screwing with my head lol, but it all worked out in the end :thumbup:

Thanks guys