antique finishing techniques?

[Cousin Jack]

I would love to apply an antique finish to some of my knives. Any of you guys ever do this? If so, what are some techniques I could try?

thanks!

 

[Mark Williams]

I apply tool-black and then soak in ferric chloride. I have been know to use
a little bit O' pee pee.

Vinegar works , mustard. Tomatos.

 

[mete]

You mean a 'patina'. Any of the acids , vinegar etc or ferric chloride. Experiment a bit until you get what you want.

 

[Cousin Jack]

I apply tool-black and then soak in ferric chloride. I have been know to use
a little bit O' pee pee.

Vinegar works , mustard. Tomatos.

How/when do you apply the ferric? Before or after fastening the handle scales?

 

[Steve Hayden]

I use the method I learned from Chuck Burrows (Wild Rose Trading Co).

Give the blade a good coat of cold blueing-I use Birchwood Casey's Super Blue. Then immerse the blade in Clorox Bleach. Let it stay in until it is coated with rust, then let it air dry. Remove the rust with 0000 steel wool then fine sand it and use a alkaline solution like baking soda to neutralize it. Repeat as needed to get the surface you are after.

The degree of antiquing can be controlled by the time in the Clorox. I left a D2 blade in overnight by mistake once and it looked like it had spent 30 years in a barn.

 

[Will52100]

one thing you can also try is mustard. Regular frenches mustatrd. Put it on and leave it for a few minits and then was off. try several differant methouds. I like the mustard because it's slow and you can put the majority of the pattina where you want it.

 

[Raymond Richard]

one thing you can also try is mustard. Regular frenches mustatrd. Put it on and leave it for a few minits and then was off. try several differant methouds. I like the mustard because it's slow and you can put the majority of the pattina where you want it.

When doing the mustard dab it on. If you have a sheep wool dobber that is used to apply leather dye they work great also except you need to use the dob method to apply it.

If your not in a big rush just leave it in the shop for several months and let it rust on it own and then lightly buff it off. The knife in this link was done that way. http://www.bladegallery.com/shopexd.asp?id=3794&photo=2&size=n&websess=11746428143637 That really wasn't my intention but I sure like the patina after I cleaned off the lose rust.

 

[Cousin Jack]

I use the method I learned from Chuck Burrows (Wild Rose Trading Co).

Give the blade a good coat of cold blueing-I use Birchwood Casey's Super Blue. Then immerse the blade in Clorox Bleach. Let it stay in until it is coated with rust, then let it air dry. Remove the rust with 0000 steel wool then fine sand it and use a alkaline solution like baking soda to neutralize it. Repeat as needed to get the surface you are after.

The degree of antiquing can be controlled by the time in the Clorox. I left a D2 blade in overnight by mistake once and it looked like it had spent 30 years in a barn.

Ever try soaking in bleach first, then applying the blue?....Also, will spraying the blade with windex neutralize it?

 

[LRB]

One of the safest, and best I have found is Laurel Mt Brown solution. Rich Mcdonald wrote about this in Blade magazine. Apply the brown twice a day, with no carding between coats. Keep knife suspended in a closed box above a pan of water. In three, to four days, clean it up with 220 grit wet and dry, finish with 400 grit. Use a liberal baking soda wash down to stop the browning action. Here is an example.

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[CWendling]

I have been know to usea little bit O' pee pee. .

am i the only one sittin here laughin so hard im cryin at this?? maybe ive been up too long...

 

[Raymond Richard]

am i the only one sittin here laughin so hard im cryin at this?? maybe ive been up too long...

You ought to see what bull piss will do to steel.......

 

[JCaswell]

Ever try suspending a piece in a room filled with loud RAP music? --sort of like the old Jr. High science experiment.

Maybe you could put it in a box with a picture of your mother-in-law.

 

[indian george]

am i the only one sittin here laughin so hard im cryin at this?? maybe ive been up too long...

Listen if he look at a blade that was polish it would crack. So he pee's on them so he can look at them.

 

[Wild Rose]

Ever try soaking in bleach first, then applying the blue?....Also, will spraying the blade with windex neutralize it?[/QUOTE

Yes but it doesn't work as well - you can use only the bleach itself, but it is slower - the Super Blue acts as an accelerant. And yes any ammonia based product will work for neutralizing but the baking soda water is less nasty to work with.

Here are samples of three blades (all 5160, all with a forge finish spine followed by the blue/bleach etch - time in the bleach varied from 5-20 mintues):

 

[gwb]

Wild Rose,

Do you complete the bluing process (let it dry/cure) before the bleach process?

 

[Wild Rose]

Nope - clean the blade good, wipe on the blue with a clean cloth, rub smooth with 4/0 steel wool, and then dunk in the bleach......check every five minutes or so - reapply the blue if need be - PLEASE try it on scrap first........

 

[peter nap]

I leave as much forging scale as possible, and soak in ferric chloride.
For the scales (wood) I give them to my wife to wash with the dishes several times before using an oil finish.

Last, I use some steel wool it add wear spots.

Here is one that I aged that way.

 

[JCaswell]

Speaking of wood:

You can play a torch over th surface to "age it a bit". You don't want to burn the wood, just work it over a bit. A soft propane flame is probably best. Practice first on scrap and be sure you can get what you want.

I've found this effective in getting that dryish look and feel that you can't easily get from fresh wood. It can also cause a tad bit of shrinkage if done right, that is similar to that which occurs with age. (It's a good idea to avoid the pins and metal fittings. They'll get too hot and cause problems.)

I found you can oil the wood, then hit it again with the torch, then oil again, until it suits your objective.
Also, you can rub in some darkening agent (some use photocopy toner mixed with spar varnish and thinned pretty well with mineral spirits). I don't like the toner approach and would rather just handle a piece of steel a while until you get dark fingers, then handle the wood a bit working in some very thin spar varnish and mineral spirits.
I'm sure there are lots of additional wood-aging trick out there.

 

[peter nap]

I have one very talented rifle builder on my site that goes whole hog with the aging. After some mild abusing, he will paint the wood with rustolium (Black) and then sand it off.

This leaves black in the dents and looks just like the grime deposits after years of handling.

 

[JCaswell]

I have one very talented rifle builder on my site that goes whole hog with the aging. After some mild abusing, he will paint the wood with rustolium (Black) and then sand it off.

This leaves black in the dents and looks just like the grime deposits after years of handling.

Hahaha, fake grime!