Documenting the development of a natural patina on my Ben Hogan

[Doug Add]

I acquired this primitive bone Northfield 65 Ben Hogan in a trade on April 5, 2012. These first two pictures were taken that afternoon. The third was taken two days later, but before it was used for any food slicing tasks.

After doing yard work on Saturday, April 7 I sat on our screened porch and ate an apple to cool off. I used the Hogan to slice the apple.

That evening I used it again to slice onions and check boiling potatoes for done, and the patina began to show.

It is now five days after its arrival, and three days after it began life as a food prep knife. A few more apples is really all it has sliced the past couple days, but the patina is coming along nicely.

 

[Mud Shrimp Moe]

Nice. In another thread I observed that after slicing one apple and four or five strawberries with my Case SWB in CV I got a patina started, in spite of rinsing and drying immediately. I had no clue that a patina starts so quickly.

 

[The Government]

Great looking Ben Hogan. Your primitive bone is really nice! Lots of color variations!

When primitive bone is met with a dark and well established patina, that is when it really starts to shine.:thumbup:

I look forward to seeing more pictures in time!

 

[Doug Add]

Thanks, I look forward to posting more. Probably will not be as time compressed as these (all within a week), but I will periodically update along the way.

And I agree that a good patina is the perfect match for primitive bone.

 

[Doug Add]

I added a third picture of the blade prior to food prep, because it has a little less glare than the first one.

 

[johnny twoshoes]

That is looking great Doug.
The blue hue looks like food prep with onions. I love using my knives for food prep and bathing a virgin carbon steel blade in onion juice is always a fun thing to watch.

You got a great pattern, great blade, great scales. Your Set. :thumbup:

 

[Gevonovich]

Beautiful blade Doug!! Those scales sing.

 

[SonnyJim]

I've noticed the same on my GEC's. My #73 has that nice purple iridescence and my #85 has a nice even gray with a little purple. All from apples and a few tomatoes in about the same amount of time as yours. My Case peanut still doesn't show like that.

 

[Doug Add]

Neither does my peanut, and it has cut a lot more food than the Hogan.

The Hogan will assist with onions and garlic tonight for the broccoli cheddar cornbread.

 

[Doug Add]

Here is the result of last night's onion and garlic slicing. So, this is the end of the Hogan's first week with me. I'll likely not post anymore pictures until there is significant change (if any). I kind of like it at this stage.

 

[johnny twoshoes]

Yeah, I love me some of that onion blue. :thumbup:
My Hogan is shiny, like shiny new. I need a good day of food prep with it, then I'll have a slick looking knife.

Thanks for keeping us updated on Your knife.
I was just looking at the Elk stag toothpick that I have been fishing with for the last couple of years. The stag has changed so dramatically over those years, it's unreal. But, I guess Elk stag is like that.

Great knife Doug. :thumbup:

 

[Doug Add]

Thanks for all the kind comments.

Yeah, jt, I can't wait to see what this one looks like in a few years.

 

[Humppa]

Thank you for posting this Doug!

It´s nice to see how a patina grows on such a traditional knife. I´m looking forward seeing more from this

Kind regards
Andi

 

[Doug Add]

I have not posted to this lately because there really was not much change to the patina, even though I was still using it occasionally for food prep.

I didn't get it dried properly one evening and a rust spot developed while I was cooking. The process to clear that changed the patina, but it has been slowly building again.

The latest food prep involved carrots, potatoes, garlic, and onion for a lentil stew Saturday. After the picture it also prepped four tomatoes and a head of cauliflower.

Here is how it looks this morning. I like how the bone has darkened with use and with the mineral oil that I use on the knife after cleaning.

 

[Doug Add]

My son and I are making gazpacho either today or tomorrow, so it will likely get some more time with garlic, onion, tomato, and cucumber.

 

[Thalestin]

Looks great. I recently gifted a hogan to a good friend of mine. She was looking for a good fruit knife and we picked this one together. She has had it for a couple of weeks and it has seen a lot of use I think it's looking like yours but I haven't seen it since last week. I'll shoot a photo when I visit.

 

[whetrock]

It's got a very "earthy" look to it. I've always likes the sort of subtle multi color patinas that fruit can provide. Natural patinas are the way to go IMO. With that being said I force with the old overnight vinegar method mine most of the time do to my impatience. But to each his own.

 

[Peter Parker]

That's the way to do it:thumbup:! I like the Ben Hogan Jack and the Ruger snuby! How do you like the primitive bone? To me it looks like a cross between bone and stag.

 

[Doug Add]

That's a pretty good description, Peter. I like the way it looks and the way it feels in the hand.

 

[Doug Add]

Another update on the Hogan's developing patina. Most of the work this knife gets is veggie slicing as I prep to cook. Occasionally it gets some raw meat when I slice sausage for breakfast. That was the case this weekend.