How Might One "Enhance" the Spalting?

thurin

thurin

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As I was looking at the picture below, a question came to mind. The depth of the spalting on the Bushraptor and the Hiking Buddy is basically the same. But the valleys on the Bushraptor are darker, making it look more dramatic. I wonder if there's a way to enhance the HB's to be similar? First thought that came to mind is forcing a patina and then trying to flitz the flats so that only the valleys remained darker.

I don't love the HB any less in its current state. As a matter of fact, it's one of the favorites of my collection. Just throwing out ideas. I don't know if I could ever come to attempting something.

IMG_6013_zpsad531bfe.jpg~original
 
so....

Here's a thought (note: not sure how/if this would affect warranty, so ye be forewarned :emot-yarr:). I was thinking the SAME thing (great minds think alike :D).

None the less, I'd say some PCB etch applied with a cotton applicator or conical q-tip to the valleys would likely darken the steel up considerably. Heck, you could also try bluing the spalting craters using a similar application method as well. I have been debating on doing this for some time.... might as well go ahead, and snap some pics. Also, ink/paint/etc, would wear off, you would need an oxidizing reaction for it to last..
 
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oh.. sounds insane.. try cutting some bananas and rubbing the inside of the peels in the larger craters. I cut some up while camping this weekend and my already patainad kephart turned a crazy blue. After doing some research this is caused by an enzyme called "polyphenol oxidase" or "tyrosinase". None the less, might be cool to try as well!
 
Yep, just cut another banana with my woodsman (almost no spalting, so a bad test subject), but the enzymes in the fruit are even crazier than the patina you get from green wood, etc... might be worth trying, as the blue / purple is pretty deep in color and turns almost instantly.

IMG_20140930_172227_zps7391e3e0.jpg

IMG_20140930_172128_zpsc8b89ea6.jpg
 
I'm glad to see that you are enjoying the Raptor thurin. Now you are trying to make your other knives look like it:D. In your experience and opinion, does flitz polish remove dark spalting? I looked at some used knives that i used flitz on as they had a dul general use patina on them, and i recently noticed that none of them have much darkness to the spalting. I did not notice this at the time I polished them. It is possible that they did not have much to begin with, but I recalled trying to not get polish on the spalting for this reason.
 
I was thinking about trying the Birchwood Casey gun blueing touch-up pen. I think the blueback's are done with a very similar product and with the felt tip pen you could just accent the spalted areas. Just a thought though. I'm not convinced enough to try it yet.
 
Good ideas guys. I think I'll try to find an O1 donor knife that I can try some different techniques on.

McVeyMac said:
I'm glad to see that you are enjoying the Raptor thurin. Now you are trying to make your other knives look like it:D. In your experience and opinion, does flitz polish remove dark spalting? I looked at some used knives that i used flitz on as they had a dul general use patina on them, and i recently noticed that none of them have much darkness to the spalting. I did not notice this at the time I polished them. It is possible that they did not have much to begin with, but I recalled trying to not get polish on the spalting for this reason.
Click to expand...

Walt, like I said in the two-fer thread where this pic came from, thanks for responding to my WTB thread and being willing to part with the 'raptor!

I've been pretty careful about flitzing the spalting so I'm not sure how it would affect it. I imagine it polish it off just like a patina. A couple of my knives have somewhat spotted spalting with a mix of dark and light. I might try flitzing a spot that won't be noticeable in the overall scheme to see what happens.
 
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