All About Pocket Knives

Well, I learned something yesterday while I was cleaning up this German made Crisner Indian Head.

Be careful if you use BRAKE CLEANER aerosol to clean knives.

I have used brake cleaner to clean knives for a good while now..... BUT.... I nearly ruined (or may have RUINED) the scales on this one. I used my usual CLP to as a lube while I was sanding and steel wooling the blades and liners. Then, when it came time to spray away the gunk I had loosened, I noticed the scales had a greasy feel on the surface. DANG IT... the scales were disintegrating in my hand! I put it under the water QUICKLY to try to neutralize the chemicals..... all I could think of. Anyway.... what a MESS. The reaction did cease but I had fingerprints and nasty black all in the surface of the scales.
I was able to sand and steel wool the surface back to acceptable but it was almost a total disaster.

As far as I can tell.... delrin is OK to use the brake cleaner on. I have used SEVERAL cans to spray a knife down to clean out the nasty residue but I am going to have to re-think this procedure.

Just be aware..... BRAKE CLEANER can be destructive!!
Mike

Mike:

It's hard to tell from the photos what actually happened to your handles. Did they shrink or something?

__________
Mike

You can sort of see it in the top pic a little.
Well, I am holding the knife in my hand and the pics don't actually show it BUT.... it looks like the edges of the scales have a darker tint to them now. I know the chemical got under the scales to a place where i can't help them without taking them off. It actually sort of looks like natural bone does when it starts to age.
I guess it really FREAKED me out when the furface started to get "greasy feeling".... YUCK.

I went into panic mode.

Glad you did not ruin the knife. Brake cleaners usually contain volatile compounds such as
xylene or acetone. It probably will not harm most metals. Other surfaces? - could be
a bad scene.

We have all done some dumb things in cleaning. I try to do some research on the internet
but you need to take it with a grain of salt. I have probably forgotten more than I remember
in chemistry classes.

Bob

rea1eye wrote:Glad you did not ruin the knife. Brake cleaners usually contain volatile compounds such as
xylene or acetone. It probably will not harm most metals. Other surfaces? - could be
a bad scene.

We have all done some dumb things in cleaning. I try to do some research on the internet
but you need to take it with a grain of salt. I have probably forgotten more than I remember
in chemistry classes.

Bob

Yep.... my problem is I have used it in the past with NO bad effects. ALTHOUGH... now this can was my first try with an auto parts "store brand" where as the other I have been using was what Harbor Freight carries.
I'm not sure if there is a difference between the 2 but I can tell you this.... after spraying the auto parts store brand.... that stuff turned COLD... I mean REAL COLD.

Good to know, yikes!

I have never used stuff like that. I have used the Birchwood Casey gun scrubber, that's about as crazy as I get with cleaning fluids.

glennbad wrote:Good to know, yikes!

I have never used stuff like that. I have used the Birchwood Casey gun scrubber, that's about as crazy as I get with cleaning fluids.

Gun Scrubber is one of the products I use. The other is Paslode Cordless tool cleaner, which we used in the power tool repair shop where I used to work. Note it says "PLASTIC SAFE", as should any cleaner used on knives with synthetic handle material. It should be available at contractor supply stores that sell Paslode air nailers and staplers. The part number is 219348.

That is good to know!!
I feel like I am going to look for another cleaner now..... One close brush with the death of a knife is too many for me.

Meridian_Mike wrote:That is good to know!!
I feel like I am going to look for another cleaner now..... One close brush with the death of a knife is too many for me.

Mike, I feel for you. I know enough about chemistry to be super cautious using chemicals of any kind on the surface of a handle. Chemical reactions can happen so fast that you don’t have time to react. Treat all chemicals as dangerous and or destructive.
SSk

Sharpnshinyknives wrote: Mike, I feel for you. I know enough about chemistry to be super cautious using chemicals of any kind on the surface of a handle. Chemical reactions can happen so fast that you don’t have time to react. Treat all chemicals as dangerous and or destructive.
SSk

Those are some good words to live by....
Thanks SSK!

Mike

Gonna rethink cuttin' your food with that knife?

Steve Warden wrote:Gonna rethink cuttin' your food with that knife?

LOL.... Yep!

You know what... I have heard, (don't know for sure about this) that the fumes from welding or heating up any metal that has been sprayed with brake cleaner CAN give you some sort of affliction that will never go away.
I need to look that up....

a'ight...here ya go....

http://www.brewracingframes.com/safety- ... e-gas.html

Yikes....

Meridian_Mike wrote:a'ight...here ya go....

http://www.brewracingframes.com/safety- ... e-gas.html

Yikes....

Wow Mike. That’s scary. I goes to the point, treat all chemicals as dangerous. Don’t forget that your skin absorbs chemicals as well. You can get a lethal dose from something dangerous by using your bare hands. I always use gloves when I use Simichrome to polish knives. And I use them when I am not sure of the chemicals in something. Over caution is better than a lifetime of kidney, liver, pancreas, lung or heart damage.
SSk

Yep... see my problem is I am not cautious enough.
I dive right on in with my nekid hands and figure I can scrub it off later.
(AND, I have BOXES of gloves too)

Some of you may have read my post about the time (very recently) wherein I welded all the keys to my computer keyboard into a solid warped mass, with... you guessed it... brake cleaner. I am guessing that the OP knife from Germany had celluloid handles. Not exactly a plastic, but close enough to incur the wrath of the brake cleaner God. Some good advice here also, about using gloves. I also take some of these chemicals OUTSIDE to use. I just sprayed out a pair of winter boots with some kind of aerosol silicone spray and I did it OUTSIDE. I think that any kind of volatile liquid or spray calls for caution. Hmmm.... I wonder what brake cleaner would do to latex gloves.

tongueriver wrote:
I am guessing that the OP knife from Germany had celluloid handles.

Hmmm.... I wonder what brake cleaner would do to latex gloves.

That is a couple of good points....

I am not sure what material was used for the scales on this knife....... Being from Germany, I wasn't sure if the German makers used celluloid (and if they did, WHEN... time period wise)
I guess the reaction with the brake cleaner could be considered a good "smoke test" for cell. (???)
Maybe someone with a better knowledge of cell can chime in.

I have never had a problem with the brake cleaner attacking latex work gloves. I have boxes of those you can get at Harbor Freight and I have used them while cleaning up old guns and using brake cleaner. No problems there.

Mike

celluloid does not like chemicals, at all. Even superglue will melt some celluloids and cause them to go all gooey.

nearly all if not all of plastic handled indian head/buck creeks are celluloid just like bulldogs, case classics and winchester repros