How do you stain a steel blade black?

G

glem

Joined
Aug 6, 2004
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2
I have an old steel blade, dull gray finish with some patina and a little rust. I doubt if I will be able to get the rust and patina off and make it look new again, but I think if I can find a way to stain it black (like gun bluing would make a gun barrel blue) then that would look pretty cool.
This knife is strictly ornamental, performance is not an issue.

Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks,
glem
 
Why not just clean the blade good, and spray paint it?
I've done that with machete's that I use, and it holds up better than you'd think.:eek:
 
i've used tool black..... work pretty well..... also birchwood and casey super blue works pretty well. you could use some low tmp nitre salts to hot blue it. make sure you're finish on the blade is nice, the finer the finish the nicer the blued blade looks. it really shows off any scratches.
 
you can use tannic acid, the same stuff used for tanning deerskin. if you dont want to find the acid in a bottle it is also in oak trees. just boil the fresh bark and green wood and other parts of the tree for a while and set your blade in it wait till it turns black then take it out. im guessing this was discovered by frontiers men by carving oak trees with their knives. if you do buy the acid i believe its 1 part acid to 2 parts water. make sure to rinse the blade with water after it turns the shade you want it, and also make sure to dry it well and soak the blade in some oil for a night or so. i like to do that as a precaution because it is an acid and it probly exposes new metal to the elements. so after you do this pay special attention to this blade, dont just put it away, out of site in a closet for a year. take good care of it for a month or so and then it will develope a natural corrosion ressistance then just treat it like a normal knife.(what i said about taking care of it goes for all new high carbon steel knives not just the acid blackened 1s)
 
I've played around with the trappers method of degreasing and "rust proofing" traps... boiling in sumac / elderberry / walnut husk concoction. It worked quite well. I boiled an O-1 hunting blade for an abuse blade for the car. It's been used off and on for six or seven years and stored in the sheath in the glovebox. Not a spot of rust. It's a pretty blue / black varying color. Just boil the red sumac flowers in a pot of water, add walnut husks, elderberries... other such nasty staining goods... The blade I used had a micarta handle so no harm came to the handle.

I tried 1095 later and found less results due to some larger grains on the surface that didn't stain????

Dan
 
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