Awesome tutorial HD.

I use more or less the same method. I have been using sanding belts and Dremel. I need to get some Scotchbrite wheels.

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Worth mentioning:

1) Use that stripper with GOOD ventilation. The gel formula slows down the evaporation and fumes. So, it is not as noticable. But, those are some seriously dangerous fumes. No telling what type of brain damage or cancer can be caused by that stuff (?????)

2) I have heard that micarta dust is very dangerous if inhaled. I assume something to do with the resin and/or epoxy. Use a dust mask to be sure.

3) You should be very careful to not over-heat the blade with sanders, Dremels and especially grinders. The friction created by grinding can quickly and easily create enought heat to mess up the blade tempering. Dremels and especially grinders create excessive heat very fast. I would never use a grinder - too hard to control the heat. A Bench grinder will make steel glow red in seconds! But, even heavy hard use of a Dremel can build up too much heat. Use Dremel and belt sanders lightly and slowly. I assume the Scotchbrite wheels don't create too much heat very fast (????).

4) I second leaving the scales on a Rat. The stripper does not hurt the handles. And I have heard it helps to leave the coating on under the scales to prevent rust. Once stripped on the visible blade, you can't see the coating under the scales anyway. I assume you could leave the scales on a Busse just as well. I never removed the scales on my SJTAC when I stripped it. It looks fine.

The problem is that it is much harder to sand and finish a blade around the scales especially at the blade side of the guard. But, the extra effort is probably about a wash compared to drilling out the gromets, shipping the knife, paying for shipping and waiting "two weeks" for it to be shipped back. (??????)

*** Everyone should probably be fore-warned that the Busse family of blades tend to be fairly rough under the coatings. The rough parts are usually on the flat parts of the blade. The primary blade grinds are usually pretty decent. The flat areas take a fair amount of sanding to get smooth - if that is your goal.

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