Playing with science again :)

tonydahose · #1

at least this time it wasn't on accident. some of you guys might remember this thread http://www.spyderco.com/forums/showthre ... experiment

cliffnotes, i put a wet salt :spyder: into a chlorine bucket and it created hydrochloric acid (sp?) well the after effects when i washed the black crud off looked pretty cool. So i tried it with a byrd while protecting the grind of the knife. here are the results.

WARNING: this produces really nasty fumes and could very well be highly dangerous. Don't do it!

ok, now that the disclaimer is out, here are the results:

here is a pic of the blade in some water. i found that wetting the blade and putting it on top of the tablet out of the water was the best way to go. In the water all it did was rust.

i didn't get to take any pics of the blade b4 i washed it. the stuff was nasty and i rinsed it right away...again the fumes are bad.

here it is all cleaned up and the tape removed. i think next time i am going to try it on a serrated knife and dip the scallops in some wax.

i dont have any loctite at work so i will post some pics of it all back together tomorrow. one more disclaimer, this is considered abuse and will void your warranty.

xceptnl · #2

Tony, what is the texture of the treated steel like? Is it rough or more gritty like the finish you would get with Ferric Chloride?

SolidState · #3

As a professional chemist, I applaud you Tony. You're right, those are some crazy fumes. Nice use of tape. In the etching and circuitry business, that's called a mask.

We have a lab that's pretty much what you just did, but a tad bit more controlled. In ours, you can use sharpie as a mask. You're lucky it's going gray/green. If the pH were slightly different, it could go orange.

BAL · #4

Very interesting Tony, that actually looks like it turned out pretty cool.
How long did you leave it.

tonydahose · #5

xceptnl wrote:Tony, what is the texture of the treated steel like? Is it rough or more gritty like the finish you would get with Ferric Chloride?

it is slightly gritty right now but i am going to repeat the process for a bit longer.

SolidState wrote:As a professional chemist, I applaud you Tony. You're right, those are some crazy fumes. Nice use of tape. In the etching and circuitry business, that's called a mask.

We have a lab that's pretty much what you just did, but a tad bit more controlled. In ours, you can use sharpie as a mask. You're lucky it's going gray/green. If the pH were slightly different, it could go orange.

more controlled than a sandwich ziplock bag and a chlorine tablet, come on, live a little..lol

BAL wrote:Very interesting Tony, that actually looks like it turned out pretty cool.
How long did you leave it.

that was about 5-6 hours. i just reread my old thread in which is was 18hrs. i am going to give it one more treatment for another 12 hours or so. i retaped everything and put some tape around the comet hole by the spine so that spot wont get any weaker. ill post pics when i am all done.

Azwaiian · #6

The blade looks pretty cool so far, looking forward to seeing the end product.

Sonny · #7

I did that masking stuff under very high vacuum at Bendix Research Labs in the early '60's. We worked with Harvard and helped produce the night-vision scopes for VietNam era. We used miniaturization techniques to produce some of the earliest semiconductors. I was only low-tech in those days...and we used 24k (pure) gold and silicon for solid-state "wires." Oh yes, we bought the pure gold in one ounce "wafers" at $35 per ounce.
Sonny

tonydahose · #8

well i put the blade back in its special bath at 9 this morning and just took it out. It still doesn't have the pitting that i want after i washed the gook away and lightly sanded it. here are the results so far.

after the rinse

still not where i want it so back to the torture treatment till tomorrow morning. its outside of course.

this is the effect i am trying to get. i sent this into spyderco to get resharpened and i like the look o f it. this sits in my suburban, hence the window punch on the end.

i like the nice contrast of the kind of rustic, hand made look of the knife and then the pristine sharp as **** teeth. My attempt at taking a picture of that description..lol

tonydahose · #9

OK i am all finished with the knife. to be truthful I have been so busy at home with a minor kitchen remodel that i completely forgot about the blade being in the chemical bath. I am guessing it spent about 48 hours total but it really didnt get much more degredation then after that first 18 hours. It was outside and kind of cold so i am guessing that had something to do with the reaction.

here is a pic after i rinsed the blade

here is the other side after i dremeled it with a wire brush

and here i am in the middle of cleaning it up with the brush

half way thru re-assembly

and finished pics

i will put an edge on it tomorrow. i think i will probably try it on a spydie in the future. the tape came off a bit so i am thinking wax will work better as a mask.

The Student · #10

Looks pretty neat after all the clean up. I could never do that to one of my knives, it would scare me to death. But if your willing to take the risk again I would love to see the next one. Thanks for sharing.

crankitup · #11

It gives it a rather unique look

Jazz · #12

Kind of looks like you forged it. :)

- best wishes, Jazz.

Niles · #13

I dig it! Nice work!

c.joe · #14

Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.

JacksonKnives · #15

Another resist worth trying is enamel--either touch-up paint or nail polish should work. Wax works quite well, and smells much nicer, but enamel can be easier to apply and so long as you've got the right solvent to take it off cleanup can actually be easier.
In any case, the cleaner the steel is before applying the resist, the better your adhesion is going to be.