Forced patina

Brad "the butcher";7734761 said:
coat the blade with mustard, then take a piece of scrunched up paper towel and dab the blade, just like sponge painting a wall. Leave it an hour and rinse. Really cool pattern that way.
I made my CS laredo bowie look like pirate knife with that.
pic's one day when my new wife can train me how.
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funny, I've been thinking of trying this on my Larado. You have to get some pics up!!

-Oh, and may I ask: is your bowie the old carbon-v steel, or the new SK-5??
 
Hot (I mean hot hot) beef that is still juicey in the middle will leave a killer patina on 1095. Also like to use green apples. To force or not to force??? My .02 always goes with the force.
 
Brad "the butcher";7734761 said:
coat the blade with mustard, then take a piece of scrunched up paper towel and dab the blade, just like sponge painting a wall. Leave it an hour and rinse. Really cool pattern that way.
I made my CS laredo bowie look like pirate knife with that.
pic's one day when my new wife can train me how.
Click to expand...

That sounds like it could be nice for sure. The only mustard Patina I have done was the "tiger stripe" type patina on one of my Moras. Dabbed my finger in mustard and made diagonal stripes on the blade. After that did it's job, wash it off, then reapply mustard in diagonal stripes going the opposite way... Looks pretty decent, but not quite natural :P
 
My coating stripped then forced patina RC-4.

Apple vinegar for an hour or so then mustard swiped at an angle for about 40 min. for the "stripes".

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BTW, it's up for trade here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=707843
 
To pre-patina or not is a question that has been known around these parts to draw many a comment both in favor of and against.

If DO plan to give your knife a protective pre-patina, I suggest NOT doing the old jam-it-in-a-potato method, as that leaves a really blotchy, uneven patina.

Another option might be to clean the blades good with hot, soapy water, dry them, and then wipe 'em with rubbing alcohol (you want ALL grease off them, even moisture from your fingerprints), then cut a bunch of thin slices of the potato (I use an apple and eat the slices) and then let the potato or apple juice dry on the blade - try to get it over every bit of the blade. Let it sit like this for an hour or two, clean, and see what you think. If you want more patina, repeat. Less? Get yourself a Miracle Cloth; it'll take the patina right off.

Another method is to smear mustard on the blades and wait, and some guys set their knives upright in a narrow glass, blade down, and pour in some Coke or Dr. Pepper or RC till the soda covers the whole blade. Wait, check, repeat or clean/dry/tote.
 
lemon juice works great for me, narrow glass (i use a tall shot glass) blade down.
 
I was working on a knife using a water grinder/sander and if I didn't dry-oil it as soon as a stopped working rust/patina would start to show up. I mean right away. I can see how SS seemed a blessing when it first came out.
 
I tried this last night with mustard on my Rat RC-4

First I sand/bead blasted the blade, which gave it a nice light grey matte finish.
Then I applied mustard to the blade. Its actually the THIN sections of mustard that make the blade turn dark, since it can oxidize more.
The thicker areas just darkin the blade a bit.

This was my first try at this, and now that I know how it reacts I should be able to come up with some nicer patterns later on.

What you think?
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~John
 
Cisco Kid said:
I don't understand how a stained blade can look better that a nicely polished one, but that's just me...:rolleyes::)
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Stained (patina) blades in my opinion have more character. Polished and mint knives look too sterile despite if they have been used. My preferrence for worn things applies to more than just knives too.
 
jtice said:
I tried this last night with mustard on my Rat RC-4

First I sand/bead blasted the blade, which gave it a nice light grey matte finish.
Then I applied mustard to the blade. Its actually the THIN sections of mustard that make the blade turn dark, since it can oxidize more.
The thicker areas just darkin the blade a bit.

This was my first try at this, and now that I know how it reacts I should be able to come up with some nicer patterns later on.

What you think?
IMG_0507.sized.jpg

IMG_1820.sized.jpg


~John
Click to expand...


Cool! -Looks kind of like cammo. :)
 
Looks great. Its cool because every one's is different. Gives them character and begs for usage.

:thumbup:
 
Hey Bigfry, my laredo is a chinese sk-5 and I honestly do not see that much performance difference with my carbonv trailmaster, oda and recon tanto. sk-5 is a good carbon steel and underrated IMO.
 
Hello all... i am new at this, so bear with me.. this is an experiment on mustard patina on a file knife i am working on..
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Ok... I dug out my 01 steel Blind Horse and the French's mustard. I am a bit confused. I only got a line from the edge of the mustard. I expected dark patches. The blade on this knife was shiny. The pic looks dull.
image-28.jpg
 
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Monofletch said:
Ok... I dug out my 01 steel Blind Horse and the French's mustard. I am a bit confused. I only got a line from the edge of the mustard. I expected dark patches. The blade on this knife was shiny. The pic looks dull. (...)
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The oxidation happens much quicker in areas directily exposed to the air (oxygen), so it makes some sense that the darkest patina turns up at the edge of the mustard, where the acid (vinegar in the mustard) interacts with the steel and the oxygen simultaneously. Areas covered by the thicker mustard don't have as much oxygen exposure.

I noticed something similar when using a hot water & vinegar mix to patina one of my blades. When immersed under the surface of the liquid, the steel darkened, but at a slower rate. As soon as it's lifted out, exposing the steel to the air, it immediately becomes darker. Can actually see the blade darken before your eyes. :)


David
 
Monofletch said:
Ok... I dug out my 01 steel Blind Horse and the French's mustard. I am a bit confused. I only got a line from the edge of the mustard. I expected dark patches. The blade on this knife was shiny. The pic looks dull.
image-28.jpg
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if this is the result you're looking for, but when I tried this mustard patina thing I covered the area above the string of mustard with vinegar to darken it.

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Markus
 
I like the goofy line on my blade, although I don't expect it to protect much. So I did it to the other side to match. My wife thinks I'm nuts now. I thought mustard was for biscuits....
I will try again tonight.
 
M.Burman said:
I'm not sure if this is the result you're looking for, but when I tried this mustard patina thing I covered the area above the string of mustard with vinegar to darken it.

68900D0E.jpg


00951EBD.jpg


Markus
Click to expand...
Yeah. Opposite though. I wanted the edge dark.
 
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