Home Bluing of High C Blades

Lenny

Lenny

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Joined
Oct 15, 1998
Messages
2,487
I've had a Bulldog Stockman with Jigged Stag Bone scales for some time now. I absolutely love it. It's the mid size at about 3.75" closed and has those very groovy matchstriker nail nicks. However, I've been waiting for the blades to discolor naturally for about a half year but it hasn't happened yet. The main blade started, but was very irregular and streaky. The sheepfoot and spey blades don't get used enough for fruit etc because they are short and don't really lend themselves to it.
So, I took out the Dremel, polished all 3 blades as well as I could, then plunged each into lemon juice for several hours.
What came out was absolutely gorgeous!
The blades are now the deepest blue/purple color imaginable. Plus, I no longer have to worry about rust.
Anybody else try this on their high C blades?
Lenny
 
Never tried it but your description makes me want to!Did you use100% pure juice? Love that Carbon steel! Can you post a pic?
 
I've used green walnuts, oranges, apples, and coffee with decent success. Coffee and green walnuts leave a nice, dark finish, while apples and oranges leave a lighter, grey-yellowish finish. None of them seem to last forever, and right now my Old Timer is kinda splotchy, but thats ok with me. I haven't tried lemon juice yet, may have to on my new Old Timer middelman.
 
OK guys, I'm having technical difficulties.
Can't figure out how to upload my scan.
Anyway, I used a 50% lemon juice solution.
Wonder what would've happened if I left the blades in the solution
over night.
I'll work on getting the scan up.
Lenny
 
OK, I figured it out.
Here's the Bulldog
Lenny

PS: Sorry for the quality, it's just from a flatbed scanner.
 
Thanx!
I didn't know that Bulldog did bone/stag.
That one is a beauty, good to see a user too ;)
 
I did it to an Opinel. It worked great. I just squeezed the juice from a lemon and let it sit for a few hours. Really works faster than I thought it would.
 
PCB ETCHANT WORKS GOOD ALSO,YOU CAN DO A FAUX
HAMON LINE AS WELL.USE FULL STRENGTH BY WIPING
ON BLADE THEN BUFF THE LINE .THEN USE A WATERED
DOWN SOLUTION.:)
 
Hey Lenny, thanks for the tip. It took me several tries (and rebuffing) to get it right, but finally hit a nice finish on my Boker 93 with bottled lemon juice at 50% for 3 hours. Sweet. Thanks again.
 
no prob loodieboy
but i can t take total credit
read it somewhere else
lenny

ps: sorry for the sloppy typing just had shoulder surgery
 
I've had pretty good luck with straight white vinegar. It gets them pretty dark, but it seems to be quite durable.
 
For those who may not know...There is a MUCH easier way to do this, Try Wal-Mart or your local sporting goods store and buy a bottle of gun degreaser and SUPER BLUE by Birchwood/Casey. Both will only cost about $10.00, That and a clean rag and your all set:D

If you want to darken your stag or bone handles, buy some Potasium Permaganate (not sure on the spelling there..?). It looks like black powder, add a little to some water, mix well then apply with a clean rag.
Note: Some bones have a higher density than others and they do not react as well as others.
 
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