Great vid! One trick I picked up along the way is to remove the scales, put blue painter's tape on there, then put the scales back on. Trace the scales with an exacto knife, leaving tape only under the scales. Then remove the scales and apply your stripper. This way, you preserve the factory coating only under the scales, where moisture could accumulate. In my opinion, under the scales is the only place these knives need a coating.
That is a brilliant idea, man. Thanks for sharing that. I am using that idea as we speak. It makes perfect sense to do it that way. Thanks so much for putting that out there. My Esee 5&6 are gonna look amazing, and you helped!
The coating is absolutely awful because it adds so much friction. Try cleaning a coated blade and then try cleaning an uncoated blade. The difference is huge.
"How to strip coating off the blade" -- 😂😂 I like the look of it after it's stripped. Well, while I think it's alright to strip the blade, I'd live the handle to itself, because after all the blade is always easily reachable, so you could take care of it the proper way. But if water got into the handle, there'd be rust.
If yall go to your local hardware store and look for "kleen strip" it comes in many forms, any will work. Coat your blade, leave for 15-20 min it'll take any coating right off, with no harm to the blade. Then you can use any condiment in your fridge to force a gorgeous patina. Gun blue is generally not recommended if your blade will be used to handle or process food
Beautiful! I want to strip my cold steel drop point hunter blade. Not sure if its DLC or what. Will paint stripper work on it you think? ( sanding too obviously)
Great tutorial. Nicely phased to show the steps. A word of warning for you ESEE RB3 owners though... My RB3 arrived today & looked like it was going to benefit nicely from this same method of treatment. I've done similar things with my 5 in the past so wanted to create a theme for all my ESEE's. The new RB3's have a Black Oxide Stone Washed finish which is NOT the same consistency of the 4, 5 & 6 blades. When I used the same acid to prepare for bluing the logos, it basically took the coating right off, totally messing up my chance of properly bluing anything at all. In fact it looks as though it's taking the logos out. I'll know more over the next couple of days but will go instead straight to the stripping part tomorrow & see what's left when that's done. It's turning into a salvage operation now. Not Feral's problem at all but I'd not considered the potential for a balls-up with the different coating used on the RB3, so I wanted to warn anyone thinking of using this method with the Black Oxide Coating blade. Will let you know how this one turns out, folks.
Just love the vid. I wish you were wearing some kind of glove on your hands...without the hand grips-you really get the quality of the knife itself. What a monster of metal. My Esee 6 is out for delivery today; I can't wait!
I’m about to strip the esee 6hm. I have ferric chloride that I use on etched stonewashes but not going to use it because I’d rather have a subtle branding than a billboard. Hope the coating comes off as easy as yours
UPDATE RE; USA; JASCO PAINT AND ENAMEL...Guys Becker has improved their coatings. The only product I tried that worked (Tried Kwik Strip and several others) is the spray Jasco and I had to leave it on for 45 min to get a clean scrape with only residue in the tang holes, used a 5in1 painters tool with a well sharpened edge
Thanks for the tip on the logos! Is it possible to use the spine of the blade for fire steel striking once the original powder coating is off? Is the edge 90°?
You had a good start. I liked the high listed markings and was disappointed when the sanding rubbed the bluing off. Man there’s got to be a way to put the bluing back on.
Did it! You can use "cold bluing" solution (brownells sells some it's easy) I prefer ACV to refinish in black I recommend covering your edge with fingernail polish. Then get started! Bring enough vinegar to a boil to completely cover the blade I used a tall skinny wide mouth glass bottle and it was perfect. Pour the hot vinegar into the bottle and leave it in for 15min if ya want it darker 30 min or longer (If ya want it lighter use white vinegar darker use Apple Cider Vinegar)
Great tutoral FG. Now all I need is for Dale at TKC to start selling the scales over here so they're a tad more affordable. (Fingers crossed) Thanks for posting. I like the technique.
I don't know if the paint stripper he was using sucks but the one I used worked much better. I advise anyone trying this to us an "old style" paint stripper, with Dichloromethane (DCM) as the active ingredient. I noticed there's a lot of "safer" DCM-free paint strippers on the market, and most reviews indicate they don't work as well. The one I used (Poly in Australia), worked much better than the video. The coating literally fell off in one piece like a glove after only 5 minutes! I didn't even need to use a scraper. DCM paint strippers are a bit more hazardous, but seem to work much better.
i never really understood the whole tactical concept - i suppose its important for a sneak and peak commando who wants to sneak up to and kill a person in their way but for every other situation a bit of a shiny blade is of no consequence
I have been using uncoated 1095 carbon steel blades for years and not a single one has developed any rust. People need to learn how to take better care of their blades or at the very least oil them down before they use and abuse them.
A well thought out process. Really seems like a great method. I’ve got 3 coated ESEE knives in need. I’ve got an RB3 factory uncoated knife that I’ve used for a number of years. Your process leaves the same patina which is great. Good video.
Never really had any problems with that. But every now and then I pop scales off, quick clean pop back on. If your bit worried, I'd just leave the coating on under the scales. Then there'd be no issues at all.
I do patina some of my knifes. My Rex45 folders & Carbon Moras etc. But I don't tend to on my Esee & Tops knives. As for rust I do this maintenance after each trip out. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hQu5fBdKmIc.html
I've found in normal environments (not extremely humid areas, like swamps) I don't even have to oil my uncoated carbon steel blades to keep them from not rusting. As long as you don't put your uncoated blades away wet, they should be fine.
No coating = less friction when cutting, slicing, chopping. Easier clean up. Looks better to most. Personally I don't like coated blades. I see no point. Rust has never been an issue for me, and if it's a concern for you, the coating isn't going to help much anyway as the most important part (the cutting edge) isn't coated.
If your knife rusts you dont know how to take care of your things, after using simple clean and light oil will prevent any rust. I stripped my esee 6 and convexed it, sharpened the spine and put a vinegar patina on it. Cuts and slices better, looks great, the sharp spine scrapes bark for tinder and scrapes fire steel. If its getting stored for awhile just oil it well. The original coating on mine didnt last anyways after 1 year of chopping and batoning the coating got stripped all over.
