Custom fighter: To patina or not to patina.

V

VolundoftheForge

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Jan 3, 2012
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Hey guys, so I've had this custom fighter, made by Karl Andersen of Andersen forge, for a while. W2 steel with hamon, curly maple, 1018 hot-blued guard, etc. Really slick piece. However, I find that if I don't oil it every few days I'll get little specks of what I assume are surface rust on the blade.

I haven't tried buffing them out in case it'd hurt the overall satin finish, but I was wondering if you guys think I should patina the blade. Also, the knife is made to "take-down" for maintenance, with a less-finished portion on the tang. For this reason I was curious if you guys thought I should try to patina this area as it's where (I believe) rust is most likely to form. I could also take some fine grit sandpaper and try to get out some of the ridges on the steel of the tang to make it less rust prone. What do you guys think? Here's a picture of the knife, I can upload tang pics if requested:



Thanks guys!
 
I think the clean blade fits the clean handle so if you put a patina on the blade you will have to rough up and dirty the handle some how to make it look right all over but hey that's just me :)
 
I think it's up to you, I would practice putting a patina on some cheaper knives first until you find the method you like best. I just put my izula in a cup of vinegar so I wouldn't get any patterns. Again just practice until you find the way you like it best on other knives, and YouTube also has a lot of videos in how to do it. I'm not sure but I think acid washing the blade helps prevent rust, you could send I to someone who could do that, also gun blue helps prevent rust if you want to try that. You can find it pretty cheap on amazon. Incredible knife tho, I love the look.
 
Oil it. Store it outside the leather sheath when not carrying. Consider Tuff-Glide if not using for food prep.

I agree with the previous contributor who said the patina on the blade should match the hardware. Once you "distress" a knife, it's hard to go back to a minty, pristine appearance. Give it a little more time.
 
I am a big fan of Inox for rust prevention. It seems to last longer than oiling. It is also non toxic and doesnt seem to react with much. Since it is a custom knife I would probably be inclined not to patina it
 
Personally, I feel I either need to do something to the knife so I can feel comfortable using it and won't think of it as a safe queen, or I need to sell it. Maybe bluing?
 
Me, I'd let a patina develop naturally just by using it a lot. It would be a good candidate for a nice bluing job, too. Contact Karl and ask his advice. He's very friendly and helpful (as well as being a very talented bladesmith).
 
darkangel55555 said:
Oil it. Store it outside the leather sheath when not carrying. Consider Tuff-Glide if not using for food prep.

I agree with the previous contributor who said the patina on the blade should match the hardware. Once you "distress" a knife, it's hard to go back to a minty, pristine appearance. Give it a little more time.
Click to expand...

^This.^
 
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