Question for Deacon about the Stretch

[gldfshkpr]

Hey Deacon, and anybody else who can answer this...

Long story short, I decided to peel the rubber off my stretch tonight. It came off quite easily with the exception of some glue that stuck to the handle. I tried some stuff called Krud Kutter to get it off without success. Any suggestions for what will take off the glue residue?

[The Deacon]

If you haven't done so already, I'd suggest to start by scraping off as much as possible. Acetone, might be worth a try, it seems to work on a number of plastics and adhesives. Wish I could be more help, but I never removed the Kraton from one myself. The Kraton on my one Stretch was removed by the gentleman who replaced it.

[jzmtl]

Try a can of brake cleaner from walmart/automotive shop, that stuff will eat through anything.

[MCM]

Lacquer thinner, or even finger nail polish remover might do the trick. :p

[gldfshkpr]

Thanks everybody. Off to the work bench. Nail polish remover might also be around. The Kraton was sticking to my pocket on retrieval and starting to peel anyhow, so...

I know we've talked about this before Paul, now I really have to decide what to do with the handle. Money's tight now so I'm thinking about that stuff tools get dipped into, for their handles. Maybe I could paint that stuff into the recess of the Stretch handle. Home Depot here I come.

I really love my Stretch. It's my first Spyderco and maybe my favorite, if it weren't for that decaying Kraton. I'll figure something out. In the mean time, if anybody has any ideas?

[noddy]

If it comes to simply scraping the stuff out, it might help to warm it

If acetone/nail polish remover doesn't work - try petrol, lighter fluid or methyl

There's the strong oven cleaners too - even paint stripper (Nitromors has a lot of grunt)

I can't see how they'd damage the metal work - and there are no other plastic parts to the knife ... are there?

[The Deacon]

If it comes to simply scraping the stuff out, it might help to warm it

If acetone/nail polish remover doesn't work - try petrol, lighter fluid or methyl

There's the strong oven cleaners too - even paint stripper (Nitromors has a lot of grunt)

I can't see how they'd damage the metal work - and there are no other plastic parts to the knife ... are there?

Not sure, but there's an outside chance it might have nylatron washers. Spyderco was using them back then. Steve Rice (STR) could probably answer that, if he remembers, since he was the one who took the one that's now my Ligum Vitae one apart to create that.

[Lockback]

Any suggestions for what will take off the glue residue?

In addition to the other good suggestions already presented, you might try WD-40 on the adhesive.

[gldfshkpr]

Carbuerator cleaner works! After that I used some Brasso Cleaner to polish it up a bit. I kinda like it like this. I did go down to my local Home Depot and bought some liquid rubber. Not sure if this will work. The instructions say if applied properly, it can be removed. Seems like it needs to wrap around something to work. I might try it and find out. Wish me luck!

[Noble]

Im late to this whole topic, but, what rubber are you trying to remove?

[gldfshkpr]

Im late to this whole topic, but, what rubber are you trying to remove?

Here is the original with the rubber stuff on the handle.



...and here it is with the stuff pealed.

[Jay_Ev]

I really love my Stretch. It's my first Spyderco and maybe my favorite, if it weren't for that decaying Kraton. I'll figure something out. In the mean time, if anybody has any ideas?

So what did you end up using on the stubborn residue? If you are looking for something to replace the kraton, perhaps skateboard grip-tape? It is grippy and rough, so that might not be what you are looking for, just a suggestion. :o

EDIT: Nevermind, carb cleaner & brasso :)