- Joined
- Jan 27, 2007
- Messages
- 6,518
Back in March I decided to try to darken the blade of my Gayle Bradley, to try and even out the discoloration that had started to appear after use. Here's the first thread:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...refinished-blade-pt-I?p=12004158#post12004158
I had planned to re-visit the project within a month, to see how the finish had held up and if there would be a need to re-blue the blade. Life has been a little chaotic, and I haven't gotten back to this until now. Add to that the fact that I've been approved for a VA grant to go back to school (I start tomorrow
); and my recent decision to sell most of my collection, and I couldn't put this project off any further.
So, one major issue with the blade when I first finished it in March was the backside took a nice, reasonably even blue-black finish, but the front (mark) side ended up mottled. I re-applied the finish at least six or seven times, and got the color pretty even, but I still felt it could have been a little more consistent.
Over the last few weeks the color had become more uneven, almost like it "faded" back to the mottled look from before, albeit more pronounced as the finish really accented the contrasts. All this has occurred without the knife having been used, other than for opening a couple of letters.
So, tonight I decided to see if I could make the coloration more even. I took the GB apart:
And the advice given in the other thread was to heat the blade up before applying the bluing, so I brought it to 180 deg. for three minutes:
Dry the blade off, and first application of the bluing solution, mark side:
After probably five applications, and like the first thread, I decided to stop here since I didn't think it would get any more consistent:
The back (pile) side, before the first application tonight:
I think this pic gives a more realistic idea of what the coloration looks like; for some reason, I couldn't get the coloration and faint patterning to show up properly - it's either really strong or doesn't show up at all. After 15 pics, this is the best I could get:
So, there it is. I've definitely learned some good lessons form this project, and once things settle down into a good routine I'll take on other projects. I've got a Tenacious I'm going to wave & cero-coat next.
~Chris
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...refinished-blade-pt-I?p=12004158#post12004158
I had planned to re-visit the project within a month, to see how the finish had held up and if there would be a need to re-blue the blade. Life has been a little chaotic, and I haven't gotten back to this until now. Add to that the fact that I've been approved for a VA grant to go back to school (I start tomorrow
); and my recent decision to sell most of my collection, and I couldn't put this project off any further.So, one major issue with the blade when I first finished it in March was the backside took a nice, reasonably even blue-black finish, but the front (mark) side ended up mottled. I re-applied the finish at least six or seven times, and got the color pretty even, but I still felt it could have been a little more consistent.
Over the last few weeks the color had become more uneven, almost like it "faded" back to the mottled look from before, albeit more pronounced as the finish really accented the contrasts. All this has occurred without the knife having been used, other than for opening a couple of letters.
So, tonight I decided to see if I could make the coloration more even. I took the GB apart:
And the advice given in the other thread was to heat the blade up before applying the bluing, so I brought it to 180 deg. for three minutes:
Dry the blade off, and first application of the bluing solution, mark side:
After probably five applications, and like the first thread, I decided to stop here since I didn't think it would get any more consistent:
The back (pile) side, before the first application tonight:
I think this pic gives a more realistic idea of what the coloration looks like; for some reason, I couldn't get the coloration and faint patterning to show up properly - it's either really strong or doesn't show up at all. After 15 pics, this is the best I could get:
So, there it is. I've definitely learned some good lessons form this project, and once things settle down into a good routine I'll take on other projects. I've got a Tenacious I'm going to wave & cero-coat next.
~Chris
