Toothpaste and khukuris don't mix

tallwingedgoat

tallwingedgoat

Joined
Jan 13, 1999
Messages
1,422
Today I tried to polish up a long suffering khukuri with toothpaste. Hey why not, people polish glass with it.

I applied generous amounts of Colgate and brushed vigorously. After a few minutes, I had a shinny blade that smelled vaguely of mint. Cool!

As I wiped of the water and took a good look at my work, evil possessed my blade. At first I thought it was just a water stain. Then rust spread like wildfire right in front of my eyes. Within minutes, it was all over. It's like that scene of the Genesis Project in Star Trek II.

I was able to restore the blade with lubricant oil and frantic scrubbing. But it occures to me that for people who want intentional patinization, this is a pretty quick method.
 
No wonder my teeth look so bad. I thought it was the cigarettes but all along it has been that rotten toothpaste.

Uncle Bill
 
Try mixing rottenstone with a light oil, rottenstone is a fine abrasive (found in many woodworking supply stores) and the oil protects the surface.

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P.J.
YES,it is sharp, just keep your fingers out of the way!
www.silverstar.com/turnermfg


 
I`ve had pretty good luck polishing 5160 with Mothers Mag and Aluminum polish paste. It claims to be perfect for all metals. It works well on steel,brass and mag wheels so they`re not too far off. You can buy it at any auto parts store. Marcus
 
I have to admit, it was a cool trick. I didn't know anything could rust THAT fast!

I just heard from an antique dealer. Says he used to use Mayonaisse to freshen up old blades. Sounds like it really worked wonders.
 
Toothpaste did do a good job of shining the horn handle of my villager but I am glad I didn't us any on the blade. (I always prefer to learn from someone elses experience.)
 
:
I used mayo on a blade one time to antique it.It does a very good job on carbon steel left overnight.I would have never believed that mayo could turn that many colors.I will say that it created an almost instant patina on the blade that it generally takes some time to get. I never had to worry about that one rusting again as long as it had a minimum of care.

allanm that is a good sign of wisdom.
It took me a long time to realize that if someone did something and had certain consequences;that if I did the same thing I would probably have similiar consequences.
There was something about the ladies though that I just couldn't/wouldn't get through my head for many years.
smile.gif



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>>>>---¥vsa---->®
The civilized man sleeps behind locked doors in the city while the naked savage sleeps (with a knife) in a open hut in the jungle.
 
Yvsa. Thanks. Unfortunately when it comes to women I don't even learn from my own mistakes.
frown.gif
For that mater I also never seem to learm my lesson with Jerk Chicken.
smile.gif
 
A few months ago I bought "The Craft Of The Japanese Sword", an excellent book showing swords being made using traditional methods. There's a chapter about polishing blades using waterstones. As I recall, something is added to the water to change the pH to prevent rust during the polish. I'll look again and see if there's any more detail.
 
I talked to a professional polisher of Japanese swords recently. He told me that my rust problem may not be due to the toothpaste per se. But because I was using an abrasive under wet conditions. That and the cholorated water supply didn't help either.

He's suggestion was to add borax to the water. This must have been what the Japanese use with waterstones.
 
Borax, eh? Could be; I skimmed the chapter on polishing last night and no mention was made of water additives. I know I read it somewhere; I just can't quite remember where.
 
Next we will be talking PH in Beer.Ale V.Bitter.Alkaline V. acid.

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Or perhaps polishing blades with beer. No, not me. I'll drink the beer and let the blade suffer.

Uncle Bill
 
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