Forced Patina on BF Knife (last year's)

[LKJW]

I decided to force a patina on this one. I was getting a little red rust, so I decided to do it up. Used some mustard, Apple Cider Vinegar, and cut some limes. I've never seen a patina like this. I wish the pics did it justice. It's beautiful. The brown swirls really match the scales perfectly.

I haven't been around much, but I have a bunch of knives I've been meaning to put up. This is a good place to start. Now, I gotta put and edge on it.





I love using my grandfather's knives, but I like catching fish on their old tackle even more. :thumbup:

 

[LeatherMan64]

That came out really good! My Svord's got a nice multi layered look to it, but I've never seen multiple layers AND different colors. Well done!

 

[LKJW]

Thanks! I wish I could say it wasn't entirely luck, but it was.

 

[kamagong]

Might want to clean that up a bit more. That patina looks a bit suspicious, I'd be worried that there's still some acid on the blades that needs to be neutralized.

- Christian

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Finally it lets met post....

The 2012 Forum knife develops a very nice patina on its own, I just kept polishing it with an oily rag after I'd use it, it took about 3 months to develop a nice even gun metal grey patina.

 

[Humppa]

Might want to clean that up a bit more. That patina looks a bit suspicious, I'd be worried that there's still some acid on the blades that needs to be neutralized.

- Christian

+1 on this opinion. It would be a pitty seeing these nice blades damaged at all.

 

[Will Power]

Well, I'm afraid it could be a candidate for pitting.....

 

[T. Erdelyi]

And here's the 2012 forum knife with about 5-6 months of patina.

 

[LKJW]

Might want to clean that up a bit more. That patina looks a bit suspicious, I'd be worried that there's still some acid on the blades that needs to be neutralized.

- Christian

I cleaned it pretty well. It might need more though. What would you suggest? And FWIW, the brown part looks much more brown in person (less red). I don't know what that means really, though.

Oh yeah, the reason I didn't let the patina happen naturally was because I was getting red rust. I almost thought there was something wrong with the steel. But no one else has had issues. I've never had a blade rust.

 

[akadave2]

I just so happen to have mine in my pocket! I love this knife!

 

[LKJW]

Anyone got any advice?

 

[akadave2]

I would Flitz that sucker and start over. The brown is active rust as far as I can tell. The steel should darken, get grey, not rusty brown.

 

[kamagong]

You can use Windex. Spray some onto a paper towel and then use it to wipe down the blades.

- Christian

 

[LKJW]

You can use Windex. Spray some onto a paper towel and then use it to wipe down the blades.

- Christian

Windex? Don't have any, but I can get some. If anything else would work let me know. (I like my windows dirty)

So, basically, that would just be to assure that there is no acid left, yeah? After I sharpened (post pic), I wiped it down with WD40.

Thanks, Christian. :thumbup:

 

[LKJW]

I would Flitz that sucker and start over. The brown is active rust as far as I can tell. The steel should darken, get grey, not rusty brown.

Hmm. Thanks for the input. I wish I could get a better pic. It doesn't look like rust at all. Just...brown. Or at least it doesn't look like any rust I've ever seen....

 

[T. Erdelyi]

Some folks like a random spalted patina and others like a nice heavy uniform one, I've blued blades before and loved the way they look too

 

[LKJW]

Some folks like a random spalted patina and others like a nice heavy uniform one, I've blued blades before and loved the way they look too

I like em both ways. I don't like rust, though...

Never tried bluing, but thought about it. Looks nice.

 

[kamagong]

Windex? Don't have any, but I can get some. If anything else would work let me know. (I like my windows dirty)

No need to buy it. Next time you visit friends go ahead and spiff up the bathroom mirror for them. Before you throw away the paper towel you could also use it to give your knife a quick rubdown.

Don't forget to keep those blades nice and oily for a while.

I've blued blades before and loved the way they look too

There is that.

- Christian

 

[Thomason]

Get a Miracle Cloth or Krazy Kloth. It is a kind of polishing cloth, you can find them in supermarkets. Use on the blades until they look like you want. I would take your patina down a few notches if it was me. Like it was said above, go for more of a gray color.

 

[jon_slider]

I have been playing with vinegar patina lately. The gold color is just the first coat color. If you do another treatment, it will add to what is there. By about the 3rd treatment, you will begin to get a stable gray, in some lighting angles.

Here for example is a first pass treatment. It consisted of a paper towel soaked in some apple cider vinegar that I microwaved to steaming, and left the blade wrapped for 30 minutes. The shiny part of the blade is the result of 1500 grit emery paper rubbed along the blade when closed.

Here is the same blade, treated a second time, same way, but for 1 hour, and barely wiped, and just oiled. I just finished the treatment about 15 minutes ago, and some of it will still rub off. It will change again with use and exposure to acid foods.

keep in mind that if you wipe the blade right after it comes out of the vinegar wrap, a lot of the patina wipes back off. I rinse the blade in running water, let it dry, and oil it. I then wipe lightly with a paper towel, which again removes some of the patina.

It will probably end up a bit less black, more like this one, treated in similar ways

My goal is to develop a somewhat uniform base layer, instead of splotchy as produced by mustard or other lumpy acids. With any newly forced patina, it looks best if you strop or polish away some of it at contact points along the spine and cutting edge, in my opinion.

Here is a kamagong's beautiful ebony spearpoint showing how edge polishing makes a forced patina look more natural. imho, it would also benefit from having the spine swedge, and long pull highlighted a bit.. (not to the exaggerated degree of the one I posted, which is a completely straight line.. and looks contrived.. I like experimenting, since I know I can change the patina if I dont like it..)

That patina is a very nice and even grey. Especially on the wharncliffe blade. Is that because you don't cut anything with that blade? My users get very uneven patinas, that change constantly..