BK2 blade 'stinks' after stripping/etching?

[Uncle Malice]

Hey guys. I finally decided I needed to register to post my question because for once I couldn't find the answer I was looking for on here without saying anything.

A few weeks ago I picked up a BK2 after looking around for some good survival knives. Well, I've definitely been bitten by the BK bug... I've already also purchased the BK9 and BK16. I'm also looking to get the Machax and BK11 or 14 soon as well.

Anyways, after looking at so many pics of customized BK's here, I wanted to try my own hand. At first I stippled the grips, then I moved on to stripping. That went easy enough. Then I tried a few patina patterns.. that was fun. Then I found Clich's blue/bleach etching howto.... well, it was all over from there. lol

I did the etch and the pattern turned out really cool(I think.) I only did it for about 50 min so it's not very deep... but it has almost a marble look to it. I cleaned it up... scrubbed it with a steel brush (didn't do the sandpaper). I've found that the blade noticeably.... stinks.... if that's the right word.

It just has a very potent, pungent, steel smell. I've washed it with soap and water, with baking soda, with windex, scrubbed it with steel wool... remoil'd it... mpro7'd it... the smell just stays... I've even tried doing more patina to it, post etching. I live in Phoenix and have a big lemon tree in the back yard, so I've grabbed a half dozen lemons and just worked on slicing them up while cooking dinner on the grill.. I leave the juices on to dry while I grill and then once I'm done I'll wash the knife and dry it off... and it still stinks. Is this just something that the carbon steel does? I've Google'd the crap out of this and can't really find any threads or topics on it... I've seen some people say that the carbon steel may react to food and create a weird odor... but this just seems to be like... a stinky metal smell.

Am I crazy?

 

[wasatchdan]

It's the bluing. You'll have to give it a while before the smell fades.

 

[Uncle Malice]

Ahhh. Okay, so it will go away eventually? Good news. Thanks!

 

[RogueBowie]

*Ahem*




Pics?

 

[C_Tanner]

Pics or it never stunk!

 

[clich]

yeh it can stink. The blue has a pungent odor. In the future, to avoid the smell:

after you use it you may see the etching starting to fade in color. I would just reapply blue and sand again, but in your case i would do a hot vinegar soak. This takes a while to achieve a dark patina, but once you do, lightly sand and then the etches will be dark just like if you were using blue, but without the smell.

 

[Uncle Malice]

Thanks for the info clich! I know, I know. Pics! Here are a few. I didn't post pics of the BK9 as I haven't done anything to it yet...

 

[sdragon]

I noticed the same thing when I put a mustard patina on my douk douk. I washed the blade a few times and cut up some apples, which also tasted terrible. Then I coated the entire blade in 3-in-one oil and let it sit over night. That seemed to help make the smell go away for me. After a few weeks it will be totally gone.

 

[tradewater]

It's called "Flexxxing" when they do that. There are a number of causes of the smell, but yeah...it's definately Flexxxing.