Anyone ever blued a knife?

M

machine26

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Sep 3, 2009
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Has anyone here ever blued one of their knives and if so how did it turn out? I was thinking bout doing this when I get my camp knife in Jan.
 
You can "Oil Quench" a knife for a blue color effect. It basically involves heating the metal and dipping in a oil and heating. I'm sure John will stop by at some point and elaborate more on it.
 
mrbear said:
You can "Oil Quench" a knife for a blue color effect. It basically involves heating the metal and dipping in a oil and heating. I'm sure John will stop by at some point and elaborate more on it.
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I don't know if that's such a great idea, What kind of temp are we talking of heating the blade too? or are you speaking of the "as forged finish"?

Cold blue works good but patina looks better and IMO works better too. Patina seem to prevent rust from forming so easy while cold blue seems to only change it color and do little for rust prevention.
 
Before you go the cold blue route try a lemon or cut some chicken, works very well.
 
Ive put a patina on knives twice with boiling vinegar and once soaking overnight. It is decent, but I was thinking the bluing would probably resist rust a bit better than patina.
 
Blueing does not help prevent rust. Your best bet is keep the knife as dry as possible, wipe off after use, and don`t store it in a leather sheath. Your other option is to buy stainless knives, which I will not offer.
 
I have used cold blue on knives and axes before. It's straightforward and easy to do. Looks nice, too! But I'm not sold on the idea from a practicality standpoint. I would definitely avoid using cold blue on a knife that is destined for any food prep work, as you will be able to taste it - which is not good.

All the best,

- Mike
 
well that sucks, I thought blueing helped guard against corrosion. Ill most likely just patina it with apple cider vinegar overnight and carry a lil bottle of oil while im camping.
 
I stuck a Mora in a potato and left it overnight. It came out black. Looks real cool with a shiny sharpened bevel.
 
I cold blued an Old Timer trapper years ago with some Birchwood Casey cold blue. It took a very dark color very rapidly as I recall. I don't carry that knife very often, but the finish has held up fine with the limited use that I have put the knife through. It came out so dark that it really looks more of an ancient well used black patina than a gunmetal blue.
 
I have cold blued some WW2 German trench daggers, as well as a couple of tool steel Gerber MK1's.
All turned out pretty good, especially the Gerbers.
The trench knives were very lightly blued, so it stayed 'old' looking.

I used steel wool between coats, and ended up blueing the Gerbers with maybe 20-25 coats until I was happy.

The only blueing job that has failed me was an attempt on a Mineral Mountain survuival knife. It just would not come out right. Ending up giving it a scotch-pad finsh, which looks pretty good.

I also cold-blued an old winchester take-down that was sold to me practically finishless. It turned out excellent. Nice and antique-y looking.

I used the Birchwood Casey cold blue.
 
I had good results using the birchwood/casey perma blue paste on my bark river
bravo 1. I like it better than the liquid blue.
 
WJC01 said:
I had good results using the birchwood/casey perma blue paste on my bark river
bravo 1. I like it better than the liquid blue.
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I think Ill pick up some of this tomorrow and try blueing my custom knife. Should turn out looking great.
 
I gotta get some more myself. A friend of mine just discovered a bad case of rust in his gun safe.
We gotta save a couple of Colt 1911's, a tanker garand, and a Ruger patrol carbine.
 
This season, my JK-AK has been my go-to belt knife for snowshoeing excursions, where it frequently spends extended periods of time in a sheath half-filled with snow and pine sap. I gave it a cold blue coating at the start of the season. While it certainly doesn't rust proof the knife, it does make it a bit more rust resistant in the short term, which is perfect for my needs. I can hit the trails for half a day and not worry about rust spots. Of course, good post-outing maintenance is key. Here's a pic!

snowshoeslateDecember010.jpg


All the best,

- Mike
 
Not the same maker but here's my RC-4 I blued after messing up the coating. Just used some Birchwood Casey blueing I picked up at Orscheln's

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came out decent enough I think.
 
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