1095 and D2 Seasoning

D

dog boy

Joined
Jul 15, 2013
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I read here somewhere that a carbon blade such as D2, 1095, or Chrome Vanadium could be seasoned by leafing it in vinegar overnight. Seems risky...wouldn't it rust?
 
Seasoning as in a patina? Sticking it in a potato overnight works great for me. The patina helps keeping it from rusting but doesn't make it rust proof.
 
Overnight in vinegar would be way too long. To force a patina (seasoning) you should first clean the blades well of any oil with dish detergent and dry completely. Sticking the blade in a potato, apple, orange, pear, etc. for a couple hours should be enough to get the blade a little gray, which will help prevent real deep rust and pitting. Be sure to rinse with hot water when done, and oil it up (mineral oil is great) to finish. A resharpening is usually in order afterward, to get a clean edge.
 
I think D-2 will give you a run for your money ,trying to "patina" it. You may wind up with only like "pepper" spots I'd leave it be
 
I would let the D2 be as well. Overtime it well develop its own very nice variation of colors. You do have to use it though:D
 
I use vinegar and apple juice (boiling hot) for 1095. I tried a little on D2 and it did not work. Steven
 
D2 likely doesn't need it anyway. It's about as close to 'stainless' as can be, without technically being stainless (it's about 1/2 a percentage point short of stainless, in chromium content). I wouldn't worry about that one.

Don't leave 1095 or CV in vinegar more than an hour or two. Heavy rust will set in, and pitting is a risk. In vinegar, 1095 patinas very quickly (minutes), especially if not polished. If the vinegar is hot (mixed in hot water, or by itself), you'll see the patina develop in front of your eyes. Blade will turn black in a few minutes' time. A polished blade will resist the patina a little more, but it'll still happen (Case's CV blades are polished).


David
 
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I started my TC barlow 1095 sheepsfoot last night.

I sliced an apple with it and just kept rubbing it on the core for 5-10 minutes.

Wiped it off and put some Eezox spray lube on it.

So far, so good.
 
Go on a high "fruits and veggies" diet and cut up as much as you can with your carbon steel blade.--apples, pears, strawberries, orange wedges, etc. Over a few days and weeks, your blade will develop a dark grey patina which will help protect it from red rust. Sharpen as needed. :) You'll then have a nicely patina-ed blade and maybe even be a bit healthier.

As mentioned, don't bother with D2. You really can't force a patina on this steel. Over decades of use it will develop a hint of greying--but only barely. 1095, O1, CV, these are the steels that will patina.
 
You can force a patina on 1095 and D-2 with Archer's etchant just like etching damascus. It works best on 1095. D-2 comes out a little greyer and if you scratch it, the scratch will stay shiny where a scratch on the 1095 will darken to match the rest of the blade with a little time.
 
Last CV Case I had was put in vinegar for 2 hours at room temperature. Turned out to be pretty dark and even, the way I like it. Learned the hard way that 1095, shouldn't go past a few hours, and got some light pitting in my 3138 Case, but if you didn't know it, it'd be hard to spot. I smudged the blade a bit, and think it pitted in that area actually, as others have stated clean the blade. I have a D2 Queen, that's three years old, and just now started to form a hint of a patina.
 
You can greatly speed up the forced patina process by heating the vinegar to near boiling prior to applying it to your knife blade. I have used a small microwave-safe glass (5oz. Pyrex measuring glass from Anchor Hocking) and heated white vinegar in the microwave.

Apply using cotton balls or dip the entire blade in (up to the tang). It goes pretty fast, like 30 seconds or so, and you can see bubbles forming on the blade, sometimes to the point of the steel "sizzling" in the hot vinegar. Some of the patina may come off when you wipe it down afterwards, or it may not be uniform. You can repeat the process until it looks like you want, or until the knife blade dissolves completely. :)

I did this to a couple of my Case CV knives as an experiment. On one of them I used some metal polish to very lightly remove some of the patina and create a smooth finish, while still retaining most of the color. After a good sharpening, I then stabilized the patina with a coat of Eezox to prevent further corrosion. So far so good on that one.

On the other I reverted it completely back to a shiny mirror finish with some polishing compound followed up by the metal polish. Can't tell it ever had a patina.

If you want a beautiful, almost iridescent rainbow-like patina, just cut up a lot of strawberries over a several day period. Let the strawberry juice dry on the blade before rinsing and drying it off. Or alternate strawberries and apples.
 
D2 comes to an even gray if used , without forcing

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I just use vinegar. soak a paper towel in it, wrap the blade and leave it for five minutes. The pic on the left shows what the blade looks like after you unwrap it, and on the right after I polish it up a bit with Simichrome. I repeat this until I'm happy with the color. Easy. (I've tried heating the vinegar, but haven't noticed any difference. And I'm only guessing that the blade needs oxygen to work, so I don't just dip the blade in a glass of vinegar, but I haven't tried that either...)

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Just did this one the other day. I don't much care if the patina is even or not, in fact I think it looks better and more natural when it's not. I don't know if the patina helps protect the blade or not, but I do enjoy the color. Somehow it feels as though the "spirit" of the knife is revealed or something... crazy, I know...

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