Inducing a patina

M

mp510

Joined
Mar 20, 2006
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I think I'm going to induce a nice patina on my Opinel parer that I bought. I'm not quite sure wheather I want to go for the vintaged greyish look or a deeper black look. I know I've heard of apple cutting being one way, and putting the blade in boiling vinegar for 1/2 hour being another, as well as some people just sitting the blade in plain vinegar. Can somebody explain the nuances- how each one should be performed, how long I should let it sit, what type of color I can expect, etc.... Pictures of finished results would be awsome:cool: I've never induced a patina before, so this is going to be a first- I promise pics when I get done- just wanna make sure I do it right:cool:
 
i would suggest avoiding the vinegar and sticking to cutting foods.

i once put a vinegar patina on a knife and it pretty much rubbed right off

i diced a few apples and the patina stuck around.

naturally, your results will vary.

i have also heard of sticking the blade in a potato for a few days.
 
Sounds cool. I've also heard that vinegar could damage the blade as well. I'll slice up some apples, and try the potato trick if I don't like the apple result. It's only a $3 knife, so I won't be too upset if the color doesn't come out too good.
 
I stuck an Opinel paring knife in some naval jelly for a couple hours. Came out pretty black. In subsequent use, it seems to have lightened up some. But the patina remains dark and even despite cutting all kinds of foods.

I doubt vinegar will damage a blade, unless left for very long periods of time.
 
I think I remember reading about using mayonaise (NOT salad dressing or miracle whip) on a blade to give a patina. I think maybe the lemon juice in the mayo has something to do with it?
 
dont awkwardly induce a patina like some poser would do, let it happen natural like, just like grandpa would.
 
I've used vinegar before and it works well. The dark black does rub off but the grey that remains is hard to wear off. When it does wear off it seems like the patina comes back naturally more quickly though. What I done is get the vinegar up to a boil then poured it into a cup about blade deep so it wouldn't harm the handle. I kept rubbing off the black and putting it back in the cup. I cut apples a lot for lunch at work and that works very well too. Seems like it is a little of a brown color though.
 
The best thing I ever used was kool-aid (no sugar added) . I still have a few of the cold steel red river knives and tha what I used on them.

A one qt. mason jar full was the exact blade length. I just stuck it in overnight before going to bed and when I got up in the morning I pulled them out , wiped them off, washed them and they've been good to go since then.
 
Slicing limes is great, discovered this by accident. Just go easy on the tequila while the knives are out :)
 
On my opinel #7 i poked it into an apple and left it for a few days, then spread on a thick coating of mustard and left that for a few days too. Then just wipe clean. Sorry for the blurry-ness.
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Being a Southern Gentleman, allow me to recommend what I did to the last Opinel Parer.

Southern Country Fried 'Taters I am known for...
Why folks even let me peel my own 'taters *smirk*.

Fix up a huge batch of 'taters, to be done up in Old Cast Iron (no, you don't get my recipe) and I assure you, that Opinel will get a right nice patina.

I can't say the Southern Fried Chicken, Spinach Salad with hot bacon oil dressing, fresh 'maters, homemade Peach Ice cream done in a wood hand cranked ice cream maker (keeps the brats busy and they appreciate that ice cream ) helped with the Patina process - for sure it didn't hurt none.

We do stuff different in theSouth. *grin*

Steve
 
he who say said:
dont awkwardly induce a patina like some poser would do, let it happen natural like, just like grandpa would.
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Oh, I don't know - lots of grandpas would stick their new knives in a potato over night to keep it from rusting up. Us knife geeks on the forum didn't invent the concept of inducing a patina.
 
sm2 said:
Fix up a huge batch of 'taters, to be done up in Old Cast Iron (no, you don't get my recipe) and I assure you, that Opinel will get a right nice patina.

I can't say the Southern Fried Chicken, Spinach Salad with hot bacon oil dressing, fresh 'maters, homemade Peach Ice cream done in a wood hand cranked ice cream maker (keeps the brats busy and they appreciate that ice cream ) helped with the Patina process - for sure it didn't hurt none.
Click to expand...

sm2: Any advice on how I can convince my wife that, in addition to the fried taters, fried chicken, spinach salad, fresh 'maters, and homemade ice cream, some fine sippin' whiskey from Tennesee or even Scotland is a necessary part of the process as well?
 
I've used mustard very successfully when "writing" on carbon blades. It makes good designs. If you want the whole blade black, an onion works quicker than a potato (from my experience). I found this out by accident in the kitchen; the knife has a light patina on it after only about 15 seconds of slicing onions. I tried to remove it, but it would only lighten. Eventually, I just gave up and left it in two onions overnight.
 
Haven't tried mango, but cutting pineapple will definitely put a patina on a carbon knife. Get a whole pineapple, peel it and cube it up with your Opinel, and then quickly was it with soap and very hot water. That'll put all kinds of shiny blue, purple, and orange on your knife as well as a snack. Heat the pineapple after cutting so you don't patina your gullett.
 
mnblade said:
Oh, I don't know - lots of grandpas would stick their new knives in a potato over night to keep it from rusting up. Us knife geeks on the forum didn't invent the concept of inducing a patina.
Click to expand...

That was largely my reasoning for wanting to induce a patina on this one- I have carbon folders (and fixed blades) and let them progress naturally. But being in the kitchen, I wanted to help get a little protection on this poor blade and give it a nice look while doing such.

SM- Welcome! I recognize you from THR.
 
Kitchen knives will develop a patina without any help from you if the blades are carbon steel. Just use them.
 
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