- Joined
- Mar 20, 2022
- Messages
- 183
I finally scored my "almost" grail, a Magnacut Tanto L31. (the real grail will be this one with black micarta inlays) Anyway, as with most, this came with the factory cartoon blue thumb stud, spacer and lanyard plug (or whatever its called) - which I find horrendous on an otherwise spectacular knife.
In December I sent CRK service a brand new Inkosi to have the stud replaced and glass blast and it's currently on week 10... I don't want to wait another quarter of a year for this one to come back. I'd like to actually carry my new knife!
So instead of sending it in, I decided to gamble on chemical stripping the anodize using Whink stain remover, a mild hydrofluoric acid. I disassembled, set up two glass cups, one with the acid, and one with a solution of baking soda and RO water to neutralize.
I started with the lanyard thing, knowing I could always get a quick replacement if I f'd it up. I cleaned with alcohol prep pads first, then strung on a piece of dental floss and dipped. Submerged for exactly 5 seconds and removed, immediately dunking in the sodium bicarb soup, then a through rinse under tap water.
It was really cool watching the blue simply disappear after about 4 sec, and at the 5th it just barely perceivably started to bubble - I expected that's when the Ti was beginning to be affected. So the spacer i dunked for 4 sec and was done.
Now the scary part, the thumb stud. This one I took a q-tip, dunked that in the whink, pressed out any liquid that may drip, and brushed the stud holding the blade so the stud was pointing down and gravity would minimize the acid contact of the blade. Just like magic, the blue disappeared after a few circles around the stud. Dipped another swab in the bicarb solution and quicky saturated the stud. Flipped the blade over and using just the tip of another moistened swab, i rotated it in the recess of the back side of the stud. Followed by the bicarb. Rinsed the blade under running water, and dropped it in a glass of water for a minute just for the hell of it.
Blew out the blade with compressed air, wiped everything down, cleaned the rest of the knife and assembled with my usual gunny glide.
I know, this post is TL/DR but I wanted to share that it came out GREAT and saved me three months, and not a mark on the blade. I can seriously say I waffled on doing this for weeks before sending in the Inkosi. I'm glad I decided tro give it a shot. If I can do this, ANYONE can!
Here is the fun part:
This is as-delivered (after the immediate lanyard delete)
This is today! Much, much better IMO
In December I sent CRK service a brand new Inkosi to have the stud replaced and glass blast and it's currently on week 10... I don't want to wait another quarter of a year for this one to come back. I'd like to actually carry my new knife!
So instead of sending it in, I decided to gamble on chemical stripping the anodize using Whink stain remover, a mild hydrofluoric acid. I disassembled, set up two glass cups, one with the acid, and one with a solution of baking soda and RO water to neutralize.
I started with the lanyard thing, knowing I could always get a quick replacement if I f'd it up. I cleaned with alcohol prep pads first, then strung on a piece of dental floss and dipped. Submerged for exactly 5 seconds and removed, immediately dunking in the sodium bicarb soup, then a through rinse under tap water.
It was really cool watching the blue simply disappear after about 4 sec, and at the 5th it just barely perceivably started to bubble - I expected that's when the Ti was beginning to be affected. So the spacer i dunked for 4 sec and was done.
Now the scary part, the thumb stud. This one I took a q-tip, dunked that in the whink, pressed out any liquid that may drip, and brushed the stud holding the blade so the stud was pointing down and gravity would minimize the acid contact of the blade. Just like magic, the blue disappeared after a few circles around the stud. Dipped another swab in the bicarb solution and quicky saturated the stud. Flipped the blade over and using just the tip of another moistened swab, i rotated it in the recess of the back side of the stud. Followed by the bicarb. Rinsed the blade under running water, and dropped it in a glass of water for a minute just for the hell of it.
Blew out the blade with compressed air, wiped everything down, cleaned the rest of the knife and assembled with my usual gunny glide.
I know, this post is TL/DR but I wanted to share that it came out GREAT and saved me three months, and not a mark on the blade. I can seriously say I waffled on doing this for weeks before sending in the Inkosi. I'm glad I decided tro give it a shot. If I can do this, ANYONE can!
Here is the fun part:
This is as-delivered (after the immediate lanyard delete)
This is today! Much, much better IMO
