How do you take off scale after heat treat?

S

slip23us

Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Messages
60
When I get my knives back from heat treat I tend to mess up the blade rather then, taking off the scale or peatine. Is there an easier way to take it off other then the belt sander.. Just throwing this one out there. :confused:
 
To remove forge scale after actually forging I use a solution of water and a pool chemical called PH Minus. It works a lot faster than the vinegar and gives a more complete cleaning. Might be worth a look. The amount of solution you can make with a standard bottle of powder is pennies per gallon, so a lot cheaper than vinegar.
 
Grayzer86 said:
To remove forge scale after actually forging I use a solution of water and a pool chemical called PH Minus. It works a lot faster than the vinegar and gives a more complete cleaning. Might be worth a look. The amount of solution you can make with a standard bottle of powder is pennies per gallon, so a lot cheaper than vinegar.
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If you don't mind me asking, what is the mix ratio that you use?
 
Bob Katilus said:
If you don't mind me asking, what is the mix ratio that you use?
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To be completely honest I have no idea. It is designed to be used in huge volumes of water not small pails so I just filled the pail any added some chemical. Still seemed slow so I added some more. About as unscientific as it gets really. In our small water quantities the powder needed to be measured in grams and I had no way to measure that. If I had to guess I would say my ratio is "way too much"
 
The approximate ratio for mixing pickle is 1 quart water to 1 cup pickle. Plain old sodium bisulphate (NaHSO4) works fine and comes in a tub from the pool supply as Ph Down.

Store in a plastic or glass container. A piece of 4" PVC pipe with a closed flange cemented on one end and a cap slipped on the other works perfect for both pickle and for your FeCl etchant.
 
bladsmth said:
The approximate ratio for mixing pickle is 1 quart water to 1 cup pickle. Plain old sodium bisulphate (NaHSO4) works fine and comes in a tub from the pool supply as Ph Down.

Store in a plastic or glass container. A piece of 4" PVC pipe with a closed flange cemented on one end and a cap slipped on the other works perfect for both pickle and for your FeCl etchant.
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Will this method help get the scale off stainless blades? Even after foil wrap I get that grey purple coating that is hard on belts and takes a good amount of time to get off.
 
Whatever you do, do not use Sodium Bisulfate w/out testing your mix first!! I turned a pretty Pc of Damascus in to Skeletor knife like object that was so deeply pitted and eroded that it hangs above my work bench as a reminder NOT to do that again. I probably had a solid 1/2 cup to a gallon of water and let it sit over night almost 18 hours before I remembered to check on it. Doh!
 
Don't need to know that.
Pull it out every hour or so and hit it with a wire brush.
Rinse it off.
Repeat until it's clean.
I've been using it for well over a decade and haven't lost a blade due to over-exposure.
When it's done - it's done.


Maelstrom78 said:
Late to the party, but how long to leave the piece in the mix?
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gine, I'm not sure what is happening to your blades, but you should get no scale if you're packets are well sealed. You will have some oxidation coloring, but that is simply surface interaction with the small amount of air in the packet. It should not result in any type of toughened scale and should sand or grind out with no more effort than the remainder of the hardened blade.

--nathan
 
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