Sanding Anodized Bronze

MyLegsAreOk

MyLegsAreOk

Joined
Aug 31, 2017
Messages
607
As we know many knives some with treated bronze for the washers. Phosphorous bronze washers have this green tint to them. Anyway when I first get my knives I pop them open then polish them heavily with magic blue on a polishing wheel being rotated by the bench grinder. It makes the knives super smooth and fast, but I'm wondering do I damage the chemical treatment? Are they going to anodize faster this way and possibly pick up rust even though it's bronze?

I have an ancient knife that is bronze (from the bronze age) and it is heavily corroded. So I'm wondering do I ruin the anti-oxidization process and can I just anodize it again or will that make them less slippery?
 
Bronze washers are not anodized, have no chemical treatment, and bronze doesn't rust.
I don't really think polishing the washers offers any benefit.
 
Last edited:
The cleanest surfaces will offer less friction and getting them flat and super clean will be like ice, at least I've noticed it. A while back I saw a guy "fix" his CRKs by sanding the washers to make them super even. Also I'm wondering if bronze doesn't rust how is my ancient knife green and messed up, and why does it mean to have Phosphorized Bronze Washers if there's no process adding phosphorous?

said video:
 
Bronze is a category of alloys, similar to the way we use the words "steel" or "titanium." Some steels don't rust, some steels don't harden... and they are both steel. Likewise, go look up some of Mecha's educational pontification on the range of properties displayed by Titanium, it's quite interesting. We have the ability to make Bronze of a purity and specificity that would make the ancients groan in envy. There are compositions of bronze that will age and wear differently, but I suspect that phosphorous bronze isn't coated and instead has extra phosphorous mixed in the alloy. Or I could be completely wrong.
 
MyLegsAreOk said:
The cleanest surfaces will offer less friction and getting them flat and super clean will be like ice, at least I've noticed it. A while back I saw a guy "fix" his CRKs by sanding the washers to make them super even. Also I'm wondering if bronze doesn't rust how is my ancient knife green and messed up, and why does it mean to have Phosphorized Bronze Washers if there's no process adding phosphorous?
Click to expand...
Yes, polishing the washers will make the action slicker, since you will be reducing friction.

As for bronze rusting... chemistry, man! Rust is Iron Oxide. Bronze does not rust. Does it corrode? Yes, but it does not rust.
 
Bronze is mostly copper, which can get that green / verdigris corrosion effect, and like 10% tin, which I think doesn't corrode, but when you add trace elements it can prevent (maybe not completely) verdigris
 
Bill DeShivs said:
Any polishing done to the washers will likely be destroyed the first few times you open/close the knife.
Click to expand...
When I go through the process of polishing I also do the tang of the blade and the inside of the lock with detent ball which the tang slides against. Along with the oil I use I believe there is less scoring that you would think. Don't engines use oil to make sure they don't get horribly scathed during their function? I really want to figure out this washer thing. Ceramic washers, kevlar washers, silicon washers, glass washers, ionno.
 
I often do the same (except I don't mess with the lock) and it seems to work well.
 
fishface5 said:
I often do the same (except I don't mess with the lock) and it seems to work well.
Click to expand...
I don't really mess with the lock, just the part of it that holds the locking component if you know what I mean. One surface locks, the other surface holds it up and has the detent ball stamped on it. I agree it does work, polishing does speed it up but I think new material would work better. On another thread they said go for teflon.
 
Let’s be clear, oxidation happens to almost all metals. The only metal that doesn’t oxidise is pure gold I.e it is noble. Even less pure compositions of gold can oxidise.

to tarnish and rust are both terms for oxidisation, with the latter tending to be specifically used for the oxidisation of iron and its alloys.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top