Copper and WI for fittings?

Will,

My favorite cooking knives use wrought iron cladding with the scale left on and a core of high carbon steel from Hitachi, so wrought iron is good in my book. My only experience with copper is from putting my two cents in.
 
Considering WI is prone to rust, and not suggested for the enthusiast who is not willing to exercise standard maintenance, what do you think of highly etched and hot-blued WI? The bluing goes a looooooooooooong way toward rust inhibiting. Do you think it detracts from the natural appearance of the wrought, or adds to it?


W2fighter5-1.jpg
 
Actually, my understanding was that WI is very much not prone to rust.
 
Joss, Wrought iron is definitely prone to rust. However, there are very fine slag fibers in it that from sort of a mechanical barrier to rust. The fibrous nature of the material is also what gives it it’s pattern. What happens is that the rust tends to spread more evenly over the surface, rather than pitting. The rust also tends to flake off of the surface easily in the form of "scale" when it gets thick enough. To put it simply, it rusts very evenly and nicely.

Karl, I think the bluing looks fine.
 
Yes, that's a fact. You can polish up a piece of WI, get it wet, set it on the work bench and WATCH it rust!
However, Tai is right. It was used in a lot of circumstances where that rust was actually part of the application. On exterior use, the rust sort of created a barrier between the body of the WI and the environment. On a piece of 150 year old WI, all you need do is scratch off the surface rust and it's nice and shiny underneath.
The hot-bluing inhibits rust even more.
 
I stand corrected, thanks. I wonder if another nice finish wouldn't be russeting.
 
Karl,
if you think about what you are doing with the WI when hot bluing it is essentially rusting the surface and stabilizing the oxides. Rust bluing is the epitome of the process. You literally rust the surface and then boil it. rub it down and repeat until the color you desire is achieved. This is why hot bluing is so effective at inhibiting rust.
 
Joss said:
I stand corrected, thanks. I wonder if another nice finish wouldn't be russeting.
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Also called rust bluing. Very durable finish, used for many years on high end shotguns. Though patterns are difficult to see after it is done.
 
Joss said:
I stand corrected, thanks. I wonder if another nice finish wouldn't be russeting.
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For those that don't know what russeting is:

A russet finish involves rusting the item to a nice brown finish in a controlled environment and then sealing it to stop the deterioration of the metal. It is essentially as durable (if not more so) than powder coating and is less expensive to do.

It might make for a very nice looking finish.
 
A C Richards said:
Karl,
if you think about what you are doing with the WI when hot bluing it is essentially rusting the surface and stabilizing the oxides. Rust bluing is the epitome of the process. You literally rust the surface and then boil it. rub it down and repeat until the color you desire is achieved. This is why hot bluing is so effective at inhibiting rust.
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Correct. That is why I do it.
 
One more point I'd like to make about the copper and copper alloys is that back in the 1970s, when I was starting out as a bladesmith, brass and nickel silver were still sort of the standard on all but high end pieces. I think it is a fairly recent development that they have started to become less fashionable. If you see a lot of something over a period of time it loses it's attraction, and the pendulum eventually swings in the other direction...

However, in many ways,... history tends to repeat itself.
 
Well on lighter woods like maple I like brass.
It has a 'golden' look and I think it brings out the colour of the maple.
 
Tai Goo said:
One more point I'd like to make about the copper and copper alloys is that back in the 1970s, when I was starting out as a bladesmith, brass and nickel silver were still sort of the standard on all but high end pieces. I think it is a fairly recent development that they have started to become less fashionable. If you see a lot of something over a period of time it loses it's attraction, and the pendulum eventually swings in the other direction...

However, in many ways,... history tends to repeat itself.
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So when and how did 416, damascus, and WI become the only "acceptable" guard materials? I guess that 1018 is marginally acceptable, as is blade steel.
 
Tai Goo said:
I think that might be just an "imaginary" point in history. :)
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I guess the more complete version of that questions is when and how did "fighter" guards made from 416, damascus or WI become the only acceptable way to go:D
 
jdm61 said:
I guess the more complete version of that questions is when and how did "fighter" guards made from 416, damascus or WI become the only acceptable way to go:D
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Wrought iron and bronze is OK too. So is stippled NS in my eye. I like subtle mokume too and sterling silver. I even like Titanium for a guard. Solid gold is gorgeous too. I am thinkking about that for a future damascus project. Damascus with a solid gold guard. I think that sounds great. It will never tarnish!
 
Bladeandbarrel said:
Wrought iron and bronze is OK too. So is stippled NS in my eye. I like subtle mokume too and sterling silver. I even like Titanium for a guard. Solid gold is gorgeous too. I am thinkking about that for a future damascus project. Damascus with a solid gold guard. I think that sounds great. It will never tarnish!
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Gold and damascus - Broadwell just did one like that - and it sure was great!

Roger
 
Keith Montgomery said:
For those that don't know what russeting is:

A russet finish involves rusting the item to a nice brown finish in a controlled environment and then sealing it to stop the deterioration of the metal. It is essentially as durable (if not more so) than powder coating and is less expensive to do.

It might make for a very nice looking finish.
Click to expand...

01 steel browned, easier said than done. At least to get a nice consistence finish as below.

Micro-07-235-bowebrown-finiclose.jpg
 
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