Evening happy campers, I'm the proud new owner of a TBS Boar mk2 with a stainless steel blade. The problem is that it came with a laquered blade which will clog up the whet stone (especially my small DC4). What I need to know is how I can remove the laquer easilly without damaging the blade. Any advice is welcome, thanks.
Laquered blade
- Thread starter Finger
- Start date
I'd drop a message to the supplier and ask what they recommend to remove it as they know exactly what the coating is rather than have us guessing what to use.
A lacquer coating? I’ve never heard of that. It’s probably just waxed, but why they’d do that on a stainless knife I’ve no idea.
Here’s a question. Did it arrive blunt? If not I reckon you should use it for what it’s designed for and the coating will just disappear. If it’s terribly precious then some acetone and a mere tickle of fine wire wool.
Get out and use it.
Try hot water and washing up liquid first ... and if neither that or acetone work, then, try white spirit, then meths. None of them will hurt the wood or the steel. (Just don't try doing this on your bike if it's dirty
)
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Not sure about nitromors, if I remember it has a similar effect to pickle paste, turning stainless steel white. A quick email to TBS could be worth a try.
It isn't waxed, it's a hard laquer like you would get on a car, it arrived sharp but I haven't had chance to get out into the wilderness yet. I can understand coating a carbon steel blade but maybe it's all part of the process no matter what? Maybe it's an automated process and it's easier to process all blades the same way in the end stages? No idea.
The acetone/meths idea sound like a good place to start, thanks for the advice everyone
It isn't waxed, it's a hard laquer like you would get on a car, it arrived sharp but I haven't had chance to get out into the wilderness yet. I can understand coating a carbon steel blade but maybe it's all part of the process no matter what? Maybe it's an automated process and it's easier to process all blades the same way in the end stages? No idea.
The acetone/meths idea sound like a good place to start, thanks for the advice everyone
I have just bought this knife myself.
I don't think the coating is lacquer. It may just be an oil or waxy coat to protect the blade so that it's nice and shiney when you get it.
I'm not at all worried about removing it. It will wear off from use.
I always give my knives a wipe with an oil every so often to keep the blade looking good, especially if I will not be using it for a few months. I use axe oil now but used to use gun oil. It only needs the mearest smear with a cloth.
Never had problems with it clogging up a sharpening Stone.
To be honest I wouldn't worry about it, just get out there and use it!
I don't think the coating is lacquer. It may just be an oil or waxy coat to protect the blade so that it's nice and shiney when you get it.
I'm not at all worried about removing it. It will wear off from use.
I always give my knives a wipe with an oil every so often to keep the blade looking good, especially if I will not be using it for a few months. I use axe oil now but used to use gun oil. It only needs the mearest smear with a cloth.
Never had problems with it clogging up a sharpening Stone.
To be honest I wouldn't worry about it, just get out there and use it!
The DC4 should only be touching the bit of the blade that you are going to be grinding and polishing away, ie. the bevel. If there is any sort of film coating on the bevel that you do not want to clog your stone, why not just sand it off? Say, 400-800 grit wet and dry paper. That will leave any film elsewhere to wear off in its own time, and provide some extra protection before then. Any film elsewhere on the blade will be no worse than one of those black coated blades, and those don't cause particular problems for sharpening. The other thing, use your DC4 wet, if there are particles of film that are removed, the water will help to keep the stone clean.
I've just checked mine as I havnt used it yet. I've broken my foot so stuck at home for some weeks.... hey ho what's new this year
I can't find any lacquer coating on it at all. The blade is sharp and ready for use out of the box. I wouldn't do anything at all.
It's probably just the residue of the Polish they use to polish the blade to a nice shiney finish. I have no idea if that's what they do, just an assumption on my part, I'd give them a ring or email and ask if you are concerned before attacking it with any chemicals.
As I said, just use it.
I can't find any lacquer coating on it at all. The blade is sharp and ready for use out of the box. I wouldn't do anything at all.
It's probably just the residue of the Polish they use to polish the blade to a nice shiney finish. I have no idea if that's what they do, just an assumption on my part, I'd give them a ring or email and ask if you are concerned before attacking it with any chemicals.
As I said, just use it.
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I have had a few condors, that have come with a clear coat on the blades. It does wear off in use and would not worry too much.
It is a laquer coating, I took it off the spine with an old cheapo whetstone and it clogged up solid. I would like to get out there and use it but unfortunately I don't have the opportunity at the moment, I'm sure it will wear off with use but it might need sharpening before that. Also using a DC4 wet? I thought they were supposed to be used dry.
Ceramics and diamond can be used dry, but work better wet.
Fallkniven website: https://fallkniven.se/en/knife/dc4/
"You don’t need any lubrication for these stone but now and then you should consider cleaning them with warm water and liquid soap."
meaning you don't need water, but water won't hurt.
Wet and dry paper can be used dry too, try it on paint and see how it clogs, then try wet. Paint and steel do the same thing, paint just does it faster, particles fill up the spaces between abrasive particles and the surface becomes glazed.
Fallkniven website: https://fallkniven.se/en/knife/dc4/
"You don’t need any lubrication for these stone but now and then you should consider cleaning them with warm water and liquid soap."
meaning you don't need water, but water won't hurt.
Wet and dry paper can be used dry too, try it on paint and see how it clogs, then try wet. Paint and steel do the same thing, paint just does it faster, particles fill up the spaces between abrasive particles and the surface becomes glazed.
Abrasives never need lubricants. That's self-defeating.
Instead, the liquid ( eg water) serves as a carrier to flush the swarf off the abrasive surface
so that it cuts cleanly at the grit size specified and selected.
If you have bunged up an abrasive stone, the best scrub brush is a cheap brass bristle BBQ grate cleaning brush.
Instead, the liquid ( eg water) serves as a carrier to flush the swarf off the abrasive surface
so that it cuts cleanly at the grit size specified and selected.
If you have bunged up an abrasive stone, the best scrub brush is a cheap brass bristle BBQ grate cleaning brush.
Here is a nice example of swarf loading on different stones used wet vs dry.
Should I Use My Sharpening Stones Wet or Dry?
Should I Use My Sharpening Stones Wet or Dry? Which is better, wet or dry sharpening? Or, put another way, "Do I need to use water/oil with my sharpening stones?" This is a question that comes up regularly here at Sharpening Supplies. Conventional wisdom says that using water or oil with a...
www.sharpeningsupplies.com
By expanding to all abrasives (in all conditions?) and saying "never" I am compelled to point out that its tough to argue that the oil (which is a lubricant) applied to an oil stone, is not a lubricant.
There are many scientific and technical sources that point to the use of lubricants for use in abrasive grinding and finishing. A quick google search for a suitable example found this, which is nicely Canadian too.
Understanding Grinding Fluid
Many cutting fluids are available today, so it is wise to choose the best option on the basis of application and material.
www.canadianmetalworking.com
It might be possible to argue that for hand sharpening wood working tools the use of fluid is purely for swarf clearance, or to help expose fresh grit in the case of stones that wear, but stones intended for use with oil will cut more aggressively if used with water, and may clog and glaze when they won't with oil.
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Wet & dry used wet effectively makes it a finer grit, used in the late stages of car body repairs and sometimes as a final stage cut and polish. Going by that, the stone may not be effective enough when wet. This is what I was thinking when the advert made a point of saying do not use wet.
Also, I should point out that in engineering, the liquid used as a cutting fluid (such as slideway 850) serves mostly as a coolant to stop the tooling and work from over heating, but it is never used with surface grinding as far as I know. The surface grinder I used with a motorised grinding stone was never equipped with a coolant pump or tank etc.
Also, I should point out that in engineering, the liquid used as a cutting fluid (such as slideway 850) serves mostly as a coolant to stop the tooling and work from over heating, but it is never used with surface grinding as far as I know. The surface grinder I used with a motorised grinding stone was never equipped with a coolant pump or tank etc.
Misuse of stones for grinding and sharpening makes them vulnerable to packing and glazing with swarf.
Lots of swarf-carrying fluid does help to keep the working surface clean.
The Grindstone codes found on p38 of Leonard Lee's book are quite useful.
Norton symbol
Abrasive
Grit size
Grade
Structure
Bond
Bond modification
Lots of swarf-carrying fluid does help to keep the working surface clean.
The Grindstone codes found on p38 of Leonard Lee's book are quite useful.
Norton symbol
Abrasive
Grit size
Grade
Structure
Bond
Bond modification
I use my diamond sharpeners dry and clean them with a pencil eraser ... that stops any moisture rusting the metal backing to the diamonds...
Rust may not be an issue with more expensive diamond stones but I use Aldi 4 sided diamond hones and I have had some rust when I used them wet...
I would just sand any coating off the bevel than rehone it and strop it with fine compound on leather or cardboard.
Rust may not be an issue with more expensive diamond stones but I use Aldi 4 sided diamond hones and I have had some rust when I used them wet...
I would just sand any coating off the bevel than rehone it and strop it with fine compound on leather or cardboard.
Hey Finger, 
a fellow engineer!
Not really wanting to go down the wet vs dry grinding rabbit hole further. I was merely countering RV's absolute assertion by pointing out that sometimes lubricant is used in conjunction with abrasives. Absolute assertions are a bug bear of mine, particularly when 30 seconds with Google shows that the absolute is actually sometimes.
While I would not be keen to use oil on a DC4, I have used water for years without any problems at all. I also have a CC4, DMT Diafolds, and both Spyderco Sharpmaker and bench stones...used all of them with water without any problems. In the coarser ceramics, the water stops the stone clogging which means it maintains its cutting ability for longer without cleaning. There may be a trade off with the water lubricating and reducing the cut a little. YMMV. Do whatever floats your boat.
Given that the current DC4 has a fairly coarse ceramic element, I don't think there is much reason for concern about water making it ineffective. Also, when I first suggested you use the DC4 wet, I was specifically talking about you removing the film finish that you were asking about, if you didn't want to use one of the other suggestions. I wasn't telling you to do use your stone wet all the time. Personally I would use wet and dry paper and have done.
Best of luck.
Let us know how it goes.
Chris
a fellow engineer!Not really wanting to go down the wet vs dry grinding rabbit hole further. I was merely countering RV's absolute assertion by pointing out that sometimes lubricant is used in conjunction with abrasives. Absolute assertions are a bug bear of mine, particularly when 30 seconds with Google shows that the absolute is actually sometimes
.While I would not be keen to use oil on a DC4, I have used water for years without any problems at all. I also have a CC4, DMT Diafolds, and both Spyderco Sharpmaker and bench stones...used all of them with water without any problems. In the coarser ceramics, the water stops the stone clogging which means it maintains its cutting ability for longer without cleaning. There may be a trade off with the water lubricating and reducing the cut a little. YMMV. Do whatever floats your boat.
Given that the current DC4 has a fairly coarse ceramic element, I don't think there is much reason for concern about water making it ineffective. Also, when I first suggested you use the DC4 wet, I was specifically talking about you removing the film finish that you were asking about, if you didn't want to use one of the other suggestions. I wasn't telling you to do use your stone wet all the time. Personally I would use wet and dry paper and have done.
Best of luck.
Let us know how it goes.Chris
Yes Mr C. Although my primary field is car mechanics, I retrained as a mechanical engineer The ceramic side is quite abrasive but wears smoother with use so maybe that's what the supplier meant by not using water? Im not sure...But we seem to have gone off on a bit of a tangent, not that this isn't useful information, but I'm looking for a way to remove the laquer without abrasives if possible. I like to keep my kit in as good a contition as possible and maybe should see a professional about my level of possible OCD.
I will keep you all up to date about whatever i try and how it works out, maybe contact cleaner first, I have some on my desk and that is not too harsh. Thanks for all of your advice, like the musical terminator said "I'll be Bach".
Please don't ban me for my stupid jokes...
The ceramic side is quite abrasive but wears smoother with use so maybe that's what the supplier meant by not using water? Im not sure...But we seem to have gone off on a bit of a tangent, not that this isn't useful information, but I'm looking for a way to remove the laquer without abrasives if possible. I like to keep my kit in as good a contition as possible and maybe should see a professional about my level of possible OCD.I will keep you all up to date about whatever i try and how it works out, maybe contact cleaner first, I have some on my desk and that is not too harsh. Thanks for all of your advice, like the musical terminator said "I'll be Bach".
Please don't ban me for my stupid jokes...
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