Adam Michael,,question please

[Paw-bah]

Sir,,I went to your web site and was viewing your fine works,,
on the gallery page,,about the fifth knife photo down the list,,
you have a knife with a blue metalic stripe,,it have been set,shaped,,and polished,,and it still has a fine blue hue,,
Please,,what kind of metal is it??
i have been surching for just that look in a racing stripe for a knife.
Skip (phoenix, Az.)

 

[Dan Pierson]

It's probably anodized titanium. Michael is known for using that in spacers. The hard part isn't getting the blue color. It's that everything has to be fit and finished in advance because the color is a surface layer that will grind off. Fortunately Michael's workmanship is impeccable and it shows.

 

[adammichael]

It's probably anodized titanium. Michael is known for using that in spacers. The hard part isn't getting the blue color. It's that everything has to be fit and finished in advance because the color is a surface layer that will grind off. Fortunately Michael's workmanship is impeccable and it shows.

You are exactly right dlpierson. I am refering to the anodized titanium answer, not the impeccable workmanship part.

Thanks for the comments.

Michael
www.adammichaelknives.com

 

[therulebookman]

could you not electro-etch it (very carefully) after assembly a la this method? and then gently polish?

 

[Paw-bah]

ok,,,wait,,wait,,you shaped the bolsters,,and handle,,,anodized the titanium,,,then assimbled??,,,?
Skip

 

[Paw-bah]

I just finished reading from the link Therulebookman left for us,,i feel a little more enlightened,,thank you.
Skip

 

[adammichael]

ok,,,wait,,wait,,you shaped the bolsters,,and handle,,,anodized the titanium,,,then assimbled??,,,?
Skip

Assemble, shape, hand sand, polish, make sheath, polish again, mask off everthing except the titanium, anodize, wax with Bre wax. Be carefull shoving it in the sheath. it will wear off the anodizing.

Even tho the blade steel and the handle material will not anodize, It will discolor if you dont mask it off. I mask with electric tape.

If you have a copper spacer or carbon fiber next to the titanium it is very unpredictable what color you will get. I did anodize a liner for my first folder and used copper wire to hang the liner. The end farthest from the copper was a brilliant purple and it gradually turned to gold on the end closest to the copper. Its a good way to rainbow anodize something.

Maybe someone smarter than me can explain why that happens.

 

[Paw-bah]

thank you for clearing this up with the step details,,anodized won't do,,
while i have already disturbed you,,,
other then copper,,brass,,nickle-silver or stainless,,what colored metals are available for "racing stripes",,???
Skip

 

[adammichael]

thank you for clearing this up with the step details,,anodized won't do,,
while i have already disturbed you,,,
other then copper,,brass,,nickle-silver or stainless,,what colored metals are available for "racing stripes",,???
Skip

I have used bronze and that looked good. YOu could get some engraving stock in different colors and that might work. Im not sure how it would polish though. Maybe a this piece of purple heart or bloodwood?

 

[scottickes]

If you have a copper spacer or carbon fiber next to the titanium it is very unpredictable what color you will get. I did anodize a liner for my first folder and used copper wire to hang the liner. The end farthest from the copper was a brilliant purple and it gradually turned to gold on the end closest to the copper. Its a good way to rainbow anodize something.

Maybe someone smarter than me can explain why that happens.

I have an explanation for this. I don't know if I'm going to use the correct terminology, but you'll get the idea. When you anodize, you're creating an electric field around all of the metal parts in the electrolyte. The current going through the electrolyte needs to be consistent where the metal is to achieve a consistent color. When Timken still owned Timken Latrobe we were selling knife blanks to the factory knife manufacturers. We were experimenting with some coatings. One of them was a coating that we applied to the knife steel. Once that coating was applied, it could then be anodized. During our anodizing experiments we found that the electrical field was distorted around an metal hanger or any irregular shapes in the knife blank.

The actual final color of the anodized part is due to the amount of current flowing in the electrolyte. If the metal shape of the blank or the presence of a hanger distorts the electrical field it can interfere with the amount of actual current in that part of the electrolyte, resulting in a rainbow effect.

I'm traveling right now, but I have one of these rainbow blades from that experiment sitting on a shelf in my office. When I get back on Friday, I'll take a picture of it and post it here.

Ickie