Forced Patina on O-1

[U.C.O.K.]

What is the best medium to use and comes up with good results to forced patina on O-1 blade? Thanks in advance.

 

[LRB]

If you mean ageing/antiqueing, use firearms cold blue on the steel, then submerge the blade in Clorox bleach, or the chlorine used for swimming pools. You can just daub it on if you want. Take it out in a few minutes, clean up with 400 grit wet & dry sand paper. Repeat if you want more patina.

 

[gixxer]

or if you cannot stand the smell of bleach hot apple cider works nice too.
check out my thread, sorry the pic sucks. if you want an even color make sure you submerge the blade completely. I made the mistake of trying to dip half at a time and got a dark line. I just warmed up a tall glass full of cider in the micro for maybe 2 min, then poured it into a glass or whatever tall enough to cover the whole blade. Takes only a few min, take it out, wipe the oxide with 0000 steel wool, dip again for darker. I ended up going to Lowe's and buying a piece of PVC with a plug on one end and a threaded end on the other specifically for acid or cider. It was only a couple bucks.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=750521

 

[U.C.O.K.]

If I submerged the blade, is it gonna affect the edge sharpness?

 

[gixxer]

yes. You will have to touch up the edge. I dipped mine before I sharpened it.

 

[U.C.O.K.]

I'll give it a try when the knife comes to me. Thank you guys.

 

[Steinerj]

I like the look of a mustard finish. Just daube it on let it sit for awhile, wipe off and repeat.

 

[R.C.Reichert]

You can also try salt and vinegar. Mix a cup of vinegar and a tablespoon of salt and put it in a spray bottle... Give the blade a light spritz and hold it over the electric burner on the kitchen stove on low heat just until the vinegar evaporates. Repeat until you have the desired look. Gives a really nice mottled antique look.

Or another one that I like to do is just apply cold blue to the whole blade and use some very fine grit sandpaper and lots of running water. Just gently rub the areas around the edge and leave some dark around the spine and close to the handle. You end up with something like this....I love doing patinas!

[/IMG]

 

[U.C.O.K.]

That's nice RCR. Thanks for your sharing.

 

[A C Richards]

Another way is the mustard finish. Take your finger and dob spots of mustard on the blade, cover as much as you want and let it set up. Let it dry and wash it off. If done right it can look like case hardened material. Very cool. Wayne Goddard has written about this method.

 

[A C Richards]

here is a link http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=690850&highlight=mustard+finish

 

[U.C.O.K.]

Thanks for the link.

 

[andrewfinnie13]

mustard finish looks pretty good on 0-1.. ive done 3 now and have had pretty good results.
but honestly... try everyone... if you dont like one. give it a light sand with 600 grit and try another .. thats what i did and i settled on the frenches mustard finish.

 

[NRaiano]

I got 2 carbon knives a while back and spontaneously decided to stab them into a yam and leave them sitting on the window ledge while I went out to my buddies When I got back there were black blotches here and there and areas still looking new. Well, I was a little shocked to say the least but I've been using them to cut fruit on a regular basis for the past month or 2(including citrus fruit) and they've developed some really nice dark grey/black mottled patina's. I say just use it and don't worry too much about what happens. You will definitely end up with more character that way which IMO adds some sentimental value.
Best of luck in all of your endeavors,
Gabriel.