Wood bleach & Stainless.

[carlmorrell]

I have just finished shaping my first knife handle. I used Wenge. A few years ago, I made a pen out of Wenge and used wood bleach for a great effect. I would like to try this on the knife handle, but I am concerned the bleach could stain the metal. Does anyone here have any experience? I know the standard answer is to try in an inconspicuous place first. But where is there that on a knife blade? I don't have any extra pieces of damascus laying around.

The bleach I am referring to is sodium hydroxide, followed by hydrogen peroxide.

Thanks in advance, Carl

 

[BarryE]

Two part wood bleach is definitely caustic....at the least it can etch or pit metal, at the worst I have seen it eat holes through quart pots when left in to long before rinsing
You can maybe try protecting the metal and/or immediately rinse it off...but with a finished metal and the nooks and crannies..I would think you will see damage somewhere

 

[wolf creek knives]

I have a question that I would ask is if the knife is a fixed blade or folder? If it's a folder you could cause some damage to the metal, like mentioned above, due to many nooks and crannies. If it's a fixed blade, without a guard, you might try using a masking type tape to cover all the exposed metal, do your treatment very lightly and neutralize it immediately. By light treatment I mean you might have to use the solution several times to get the desired effect. You'd also want to do make sure you only did half the side of the knife at a time and mask off the tang, again, if this is a full tang fixed blade knife. If it's a hidden tang just mask off the blade I'd love to hear and see how it goes. Good luck.

 

[carlmorrell]

Tom,

Thanks for the reply. I picked up one of the over-priced blanks from Woodcraft on closeout. Attaching a pic of the work-in-progress. I am not as concerned about the blade, I can mask that off. Worried more about the plate on the butt, and the edges of the tang. I do like the idea of multiple short duration applications. Like I said it's my first knife, and I paid too much for it, so I don't want to screw it up. Part of me wants to be conservative and just throw some poly on it. But there's this other part that's itching to go over the top (a little!) Your opinion is highly valued

Also, used 4mm mosaic pins that WC is selling.

 

[wolf creek knives]

Tom,

Thanks for the reply. I picked up one of the over-priced blanks from Woodcraft on closeout. Attaching a pic of the work-in-progress. I am not as concerned about the blade, I can mask that off. Worried more about the plate on the butt, and the edges of the tang. I do like the idea of multiple short duration applications. Like I said it's my first knife, and I paid too much for it, so I don't want to screw it up. Part of me wants to be conservative and just throw some poly on it. But there's this other part that's itching to go over the top (a little!) Your opinion is highly valued View attachment 239578

Also, used 4mm mosaic pins that WC is selling.

I'll tell you what I've done in the past to protect some of my knifes, especially while etching in tight places. If you have some Poly you can apply it to the metal before you apply your finish. I apply the Poly with a Q-tip and I mask off the scale so the Poly doesn't get on the wood. Make sure you put the Poly on all the metal. Let it sit overnight and the next day remove the masking tape from the wood, then apply masking tape to your butt cap and apply your finish like I said in my first post. After you've applied your bleach product and neutralized it let it dry over night. Next day, take the tape off the butt cap, tape off the handle again and use Mineral spirits on a cloth to remove the Poly on the butt cap. It will take some work and time but I think it will do what you want it to do. When you mask off the areas make sure to really push down hard on the edges to make sure you get as tight a seal as possible. Some others may have some great ideas but this is how I'd approach it. Good luck!
BTW, the nice job on the knife and the Mosaics. Another good source for blanks is Premium Knife Supply (AKA Payne Bros).- Tom

 

[carlmorrell]

Follow up. I experimented with the bleach on some stainless bolts and decided the bleach must be relatively weak. I masked off the blade and butt, but left the 1/8" edge of the tang exposed. I used one 10 minute application of the sodium hydroxide, followed by overnight hydrogen peroxide, per the directions. Followed up with three coats of general finishes gloss.