Hey guys,

I'm wanting to strip a couple of blades but want to avoid the really toxic strippers out there if I can. I came across Citristrip which is supposed to be essentially non-toxic being that it's based off citrus oils.

My question is whether you guys think this will work well for the coatings on Bussekin blades? There's mixed reviews at Home Depot's website about how well it works, but I'm not sure what to make of it. Here's a link for the products at Home Depot with more info and review.....

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...1#BVRRWidgetID

I'm also thinking that I will need to use something to scrape the coatings off after applying, anybody got any recommendations that work well for pretty cheap?

Also just curious, what type of material are the coatings made of? Thanks for the help, everyone!!

If you are determined to strip a blade, I think the $12 is a cheap enough product to try out without any remorse if it doesn't work.

Will the dissolved coating be toxic? I don't know.

A cheap paint scraper worked fine for me, but I used highly toxic stripper.

Citristrip is what I used for my R4 and R3. After an hour came off with a plastic scraper. It's the only stuff I have tried, so I don't know how it compares to the more "toxic" ones. You definitely still need to wear gloves cause it will burn. I still don't have finger prints on one hand.

Here's the R3.

Luck,

Thank you so much for the input, this is exactly what I was trying to find out! I've got some good chemical resistant gloves so I'll definitely use them. I'll post some pics of the end result once I'm done, probably won't be for another week though......

On a side note, do you think a quart container would be enough to do say a couple 1311's and Boss Jack's????

I think that would be plenty. Another helpful trick I learned is to have your blade warm to the touch using a blow dryer worked great, the citristrip should also be above 70F, the warmer the better. I'm impatient but if you can leave it on a couple hours instead of just one it will work better.

I've also heard of mixed results, but it definitely worked fine for me. Good luck, can't wait to see the results.

Don't forget goggles , I got paint stripper in the eye once and had to spend 3 days washing it out and wearing gause over my eye. Don'take the same mistake I did.

My original idea was to let the blade sit outside with the stripper for a few hours, but if it needs to be warm to work well I may end up waiting a couple months as it's still pretty wintery here. I'd imagine there's some fumes from the Citristrip you should avoid inhaling so doing it inside is probably not gonna be a good idea either.

THanks for the heads up about the goggles, Sharp. I wear glasses so I'd probably be alright anyways, but that's definitely something you wanna be as careful as possible with.

Strippers always work faster when you pay more upfront. Wait..... Im thinking of something else.

Busse kin knives strip super easy man takes like 30 to hour tops black comes off easiest sage is the worst. If striper gets on micarta or g 10 it does not effect it just wipe off same witH res c ive done like 30 blades all came out great. If you dont want them to rust like a SOB blue it or patina the blade when done.

Klean Strip is what has been most effective for me on other knives. I didn't have much luck with Citristrip.