The "Ask Nathan a Question" Thread

Nathan, serious question: I've managed to get my decision making process regarding this latest preorder all knotted up in a pretzel, and NinJo will be coming soon with her abacus and PayPal in hand, so I need your help please. Knowing that I like 'em very fancy, collector's edition and then they'll probably never see the light of day, how'd you spend my $? I'm hitting a dead-end regarding swedge and sharpened tip for DEK2 and then sharpened tip for the DEK3, I think that I'd forego the sharpened double-edge on the DEK3 unless you manage to talk me into it. ETA, I'm going with satin & acid with IKEA on both but I'm stuck on option for the tip/stock.

The other question was about if & when we will ever see another 4V from you in the advent of this new MagmaWut craze. I'll keep repeating this question if you feel not answering it for now, no worries.

Thank you.
 
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🤣
 
Ghost coyote said:
Nathan the Machinist Nathan the Machinist

I removed the scales of my dek and found rust, I used barkeeper friend to remove it but it stained the blade, do you know how could clean it up?
Click to expand...
Obviously coarse enough sandpaper will remove anything, but also impact the finish. I suggest trying the pink 3M polishing sheet at 4000 grit. It will often remove a blemish or add a bit of shine to handle materials, but won't affect the finish of a CPK, which is nowhere near 4000 grit. The only issue is if it isn't aggressive enough. The 1200 grit sheets work much more quickly but might start to affect the finish. I would try the 4000.
(legend has it that a hamon might start to show up... just kidding)



Edit by Nate: 4000 grit sandpaper will put a shine on your tumbled finish. It will show.
 
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Obviously coarse enough sandpaper will remove anything, but also impact the finish. I suggest trying the pink 3M polishing sheet at 4000 grit. It will often remove a blemish or add a bit of shine to handle materials, but won't affect the finish of a CPK, which is nowhere near 4000 grit. The only issue is if it isn't aggressive enough. The 1200 grit sheets work much more quickly but might start to affect the finish. I would try the 4000.
Richard338 said:
(legend has it that a hamon might start to show up... just kidding)
Click to expand...
I’ll get a picture and see if I can post it
 
Fine grit sandpaper will put a shine on the finish. The tumbled finish is matte, if you put an abrasive on it of any kind you will shine it. This is not necessarily a problem but if you do it uneven, well, obviously, it will be uneven.
 
Richard338 said:
Agreed, it has never occurred to me to remove the scales on any of my CPK. For my money I'd be happy with them glued up permanently.
Click to expand...

Not me, I like being able to change the scales whenever I feel like it, especially when I put the knife in my steel press to wet form a leather sheath. I don't like having my Cocobolo scales mounted for stuff like that.
 
Richard338 said:
Obviously coarse enough sandpaper will remove anything, but also impact the finish. I suggest trying the pink 3M polishing sheet at 4000 grit. It will often remove a blemish or add a bit of shine to handle materials, but won't affect the finish of a CPK, which is nowhere near 4000 grit. The only issue is if it isn't aggressive enough. The 1200 grit sheets work much more quickly but might start to affect the finish. I would try the 4000.
(legend has it that a hamon might start to show up... just kidding)



Edit by Nate: 4000 grit sandpaper will put a shine on your tumbled finish. It will show.
Click to expand...

Nathan the Machinist said:
Fine grit sandpaper will put a shine on the finish. The tumbled finish is matte, if you put an abrasive on it of any kind you will shine it. This is not necessarily a problem but if you do it uneven, well, obviously, it will be uneven.
Click to expand...
This is why we need the notNathan disclaimer, I've never done a tumbled finish..
 
Blues said:
Trust Nathan.

(Trust Richard and Tony too...but...trust the words that come from the horse's, (so to speak), mouth...and worry no further.)

My unsolicited two cents on the matter.
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Yeah, I do, he made them, he knows the chemistry more than I do.

I’m just one of those persons that needs to fix their wrongdoings, as of the time of the second post, I did a full coating hoping for a even stain, but it didn’t. I guess it was just bad luck, no big deal, this guys are made to be used, so embrace the wear.
Nathan the Machinist said:
Fine grit sandpaper will put a shine on the finish. The tumbled finish is matte, if you put an abrasive on it of any kind you will shine it. This is not necessarily a problem but if you do it uneven, well, obviously, it will be uneven.
Click to expand...
I would not try to shine it, I’m very lazy for these kind of things and I’m pretty sure it won’t be uneven, it would be ugly lol.

Richard338 said:
Agreed, it has never occurred to me to remove the scales on any of my CPK. For my money I'd be happy with them glued up permanently.
Click to expand...
I wanted to change the colors, I had a beautiful olive drab unbuffed micarta that’s got a brownish hue as per its use. I found my spare set and opened it and saw the reddish color of the natural micarta on the inside and I had to had them on to get some wear and darken the scales, I removed the scales, saw some rust, and the rest is history.
 
Ghost coyote said:
Yeah, I do, he made them, he knows the chemistry more than I do.

I’m just one of those persons that needs to fix their wrongdoings, as of the time of the second post, I did a full coating hoping for a even stain, but it didn’t. I guess it was just bad luck, no big deal, this guys are made to be used, so embrace the wear.

I would not try to shine it, I’m very lazy for these kind of things and I’m pretty sure it won’t be uneven, it would be ugly lol.


I wanted to change the colors, I had a beautiful olive drab unbuffed micarta that’s got a brownish hue as per its use. I found my spare set and opened it and saw the reddish color of the natural micarta on the inside and I had to had them on to get some wear and darken the scales, I removed the scales, saw some rust, and the rest is history.
Click to expand...
I would lightly sand, scrub, degrease and then do an acid wash. Probably turn out fine and consistent looking.
 
vxd said:
That's too bad as I really can't stand choils.
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I am generally a choil hater too (at least I am on another brand where the choils are overly large and deep, especially on that brand's smaller knives), but the choil on the DEK1 is very minimal (slightly less than 1/16" deep) and well designed so as being not likely to snag on the material being cut. I bought a DEK1 and I'm very happy with it!
 
Ghost coyote said:
Yeah, I do, he made them, he knows the chemistry more than I do.

I’m just one of those persons that needs to fix their wrongdoings, as of the time of the second post, I did a full coating hoping for a even stain, but it didn’t. I guess it was just bad luck, no big deal, this guys are made to be used, so embrace the wear.

I would not try to shine it, I’m very lazy for these kind of things and I’m pretty sure it won’t be uneven, it would be ugly lol.


I wanted to change the colors, I had a beautiful olive drab unbuffed micarta that’s got a brownish hue as per its use. I found my spare set and opened it and saw the reddish color of the natural micarta on the inside and I had to had them on to get some wear and darken the scales, I removed the scales, saw some rust, and the rest is history.
Click to expand...

I treat all rust on blades with this method. Especially, for under the scales.
A rag and mineral oil. It will remove all the loose red rust, and change the red rust to black rust. Black rust is extremely slow moving compared to red rust.
For cleaning anything and everything from my blades I use hot water and dish soap followed by mineral oil on a rag.
I usually keep a mineral oil soaked rag in a ziplock at work and when hiking.

#notnathan
 
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I would also add that I’ve removed the scales on about half my CPK blades. I have found rust colored machining spooge under the scales. The majority of which comes off with the mineral oil and a rag. Some staining remains but is minimal.
Then I apply a thick coat of mineral oil, wipe down lightly and put the scales back on.

#stillnotnathan
 
Nathan the Machinist Nathan the Machinist

Hi Nathan,

I have a couple of questions for whenever you have time to answer them. On the DEK3 the description states,“The swedge does not come all the way to the point to prevent the tip from being overly fragile,” would you recommend not adding the sharpened tip for the same reason?

The computer rendering of what the DEK2 “won’t look like” has a Tanto like blade shape, will the DEK2 have a similar shape with an extremely strong Tanto point?

Thanks for all the wonderful options!
:thumbsup::)
 
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