How To Damascus blade has some brownish tinting on it - how to clean?

M

MDesigner

Joined
Jul 27, 2019
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Hey all!

I've got an L6/O1 Damascus blade, and it was originally all bluish, but now part of it has a brown tint to it. This is a one-of-a-kind custom forged piece, so I want to make 100% sure I clean this without ruining it. I have Tsubaki oil, which I was told is great for keeping a thin coat on to prevent rust, and when I try to use that with a rag, I can see brown coming off, but it just keeps endlessly transferring to the rag without cleaning the knife.

I'd love to hear any advice. Thanks!

(the brown looks less pronounced in photos)

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A little Flitz or Mother's Mag should take care of it, looks pretty light right now.

After the tarnish is removed re-oil it.
 
I don't think there are cracks. I mean, my friend who made this for me isn't by any means a super seasoned pro blacksmith, but he's hammered out (pun intended) a lot of pieces.

So there doesn't seem to be a general consensus yet, which means I won't be doing anything because I'd hate to mess up the etching.
 
MDesigner said:
I don't think there are cracks. I mean, my friend who made this for me isn't by any means a super seasoned pro blacksmith, but he's hammered out (pun intended) a lot of pieces.
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Why don't you ask the maker since he is a friend. He's the one who would know more than anyone.
 
Mr.Wizard said:
Won't that remove the etching that's needed to darken the finish and bring out the contrast? You'd need to re-etch it, wouldn't you?
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Yeah, be careful with metal polish on darkly-etched damascus. I 'cleaned up' the blade on a Buck 110, Custom Shop damascus-bladed folder with either Simichrome or Flitz, I don't remember. It'll remove most of the dark oxide, as happened with my Buck, leaving it an even grey. Sort of a weird story behind mine when I bought it on the 'bay; it originally came with a very dark blade, labelled on the box as a 'dark oxide' blade, and not labelled as damascus, though it turned out to be just that. After using the polish on it, I can still see the pattern in the damascus, but the contrast is gone. Still attractive to my eye, but in a more subtle way; I haven't bothered to have it redone. So far as I know, the blade would have to be re-etched to get the contrast back.
 
mikey488 said:
Why don't you ask the maker since he is a friend. He's the one who would know more than anyone.
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He said (about the brown tint):
"It would be a rust pre-cursor or the oil on it was breaking down. I’ve taken to using Tsubaki blade oil. Seems to last longer without breaking down."

He said baking soda + water mixture is ok to use, as long as I dry it right away. But I didn't get any details as far as if I should use a brush of some kind, or a rag, or what. And if I messed up the etching, I could do a coffee re-etch.
 
It's rust, I would be very careful with that... Baking soda is an abrasive and will also remove the etch
 
WD-40 can loosen up surface rust pretty well, if allowed to soak on the surface for a while. I've loosened up rust on some knives by spraying it liberally on the knife, then wrapping the blade with some paper towels and saturating them with WD-40. Put the whole thing inside something airtight (I've used Zip-Loc bags for this), so the WD-40 won't evaporate off, and give it a while to work (maybe an hour or more). Then scrub it with something like an old toothbrush afterward. You'll likely see a lot of the brown/orange/red stuff coming off when you do this. Spray it down again with WD-40 to rinse more of the dirty stuff away. Then clean it all up as you ordinarily would (I've washed them in liquid dish soap & hot water). This is one way to clean it up, if there are concerns about using anything abrasive. And WD-40 isn't so aggressive as to cause any other issues either, like messing with the etch.

As an initial test, you might just spray the WD-40 on the blade, wait a few minutes, then wipe it down with a clean paper towel or rag. If you see the brown/orange/red stuff staining the paper towel, you know it can do the job. More extreme cleanup might benefit from heavier spray & saturation and longer soak times. I've cleaned up a couple of really rusty old knives this way, letting them soak in the Zip-Loc for several days. But those were severe cases, with blades on folders rusted shut, etc.
 
Whatever you do-do it to the entire blade.
The WD 40 should work.
 
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