Kershaw "Copper" Natrix

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Sharperthansticks

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Sep 19, 2017
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I bought a Kershaw Copper Natrix from one of the big online retailers. (That sentence is there so no one can claim that I have a knockoff.) Anyway, part of the scales discolored quickly. Now, normally I'd say, "I guess it's a patina," but copper oxidizes to green, and this was more like black, so I'm wondering if it was a patina or if it was just some dirt that shows really well on the copper. I'm also wondering if the scale isn't copper but rather something else -- perhaps even some sort of copper alloy that oxidizes black.

In any event, I took some Flitz, a polishing head, and my Dremel, and shined up the show side of the scales so that she looks like a new penny. Took just 2 or 3 minutes.
 
It's copper. They delayed it cause they were trying different kinds of copper.

You got any pictures of the dark patina
 
Copper can oxidize into either somewhere on the green/blue scale or dark brown to black, depending on what corrodes it. Look at pennies, some are green and some are brown to almost black.

The easiest way to get the patina you are looking for is to force it. Certain chemicals will patina in different colors. After I send mine in to get the garbage screw replaced, I'm going to get the scales off and treat them with MiracleGro for a green blue patina and clear coat it.
 
dkb45 said:
Copper can oxidize into either somewhere on the green/blue scale or dark brown to black, depending on what corrodes it. Look at pennies, some are green and some are brown to almost black.

The easiest way to get the patina you are looking for is to force it. Certain chemicals will patina in different colors. After I send mine in to get the garbage screw replaced, I'm going to get the scales off and treat them with MiracleGro for a green blue patina and clear coat it.
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Thanks. I'm not a patina guy; I really never want a patina on my knives, but if I MUST have a patina, if rather the green one than the black one.

How do you clear coat the scales? Maybe I could do that to protect them from getting ANY patina.
 
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Sharperthansticks said:
Thanks. I'm not a patina guy; I really never want a patina on my knives, but if I MUST have a patina, if rather the green one than the black one.

How do you clear coat the scales? Maybe I could do that to protect them from getting ANY patina.
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I was just going to spray some clear coat spray paint on them. Should be tough enough to protect a light use knife. Just make sure all hardware is removed first, otherwise you'll have a headache.
 
Danke42 said:
Man if I didn't want patina I wouldn't be having big chunks of copper.
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Exactly. My new Olight I3E EOS copper is already developing a nice patina. And I just got it Friday.
 
I've always thought the patina-chasers were crazy (aesthetically speaking, that is), but then again, I tend to have my own ideas about things, in general. To my disappointment, this morning, when I was looking over my knives, trying to decide which one to pocket for the day (it turned out to be my newly acquired Laconico Keen), I saw my Natrix, which I'd polished up beautifully. Well, it's already blackened again. :-( When I have some time, I'll go to Home Depot and buy some clear coat spray paint, as dkb45 suggested. Then I'll disassemble the knife, take off the clip, polish both scales, and immediately clear coat them.
 
Everybody keeps talking about the smell,I honestly don't notice it. Especially on my hands. Maybe I have a terrible sense of smell I guess that's a good thing. I'm actually trying to patina mine now.
 
dkb45 said:
Patina doesn't bother me, it's the smell that copper leaves in your hands.
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It's that same smell u get from counting coins or w big jar of pennies... I was getting the same patina on my Copper Natrix and Kershaw recommended sum burts bees and a polishing cloth to remove the patina if I wanted to do so. Tried it on a small spot and it worked fantastic.
 
MM1313 said:
It's that same smell u get from counting coins or w big jar of pennies... I was getting the same patina on my Copper Natrix and Kershaw recommended sum burts bees and a polishing cloth to remove the patina if I wanted to do so. Tried it on a small spot and it worked fantastic.
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You mean the chapstick? Also, when you refer to a polishing cloth, do you mean any sort of soft cloth that you don't mind dirtying up (like an old t-shirt or a Shamwow)?
 
Clear coat is one option. I've also had luck using EDCi corrosion inhibitor on copper.

That being said, I've never seen green or blue patina appear on EDC tools without forcing it. Every bit of copper I've had has gone black with use. If you really want green, you'd probably need to force it, then clearcoat.
 
I don't know about copper, but I know spay on clear coat won't prevent corrosion on carbon steel (had some BMX handlebars back in the day, they rusted below the clear). Automotive grade clear coat won't prevent it on aluminum either (had a MTB frame blasted and cleared, it still corroded under the clear coat eventually).

Keeping a copper anything you use and trying to avoid a patina sounds like a lost cause and a huge waste of time to me.
 
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Sharperthansticks said:
You mean the chapstick? Also, when you refer to a polishing cloth, do you mean any sort of soft cloth that you don't mind dirtying up (like an old t-shirt or a Shamwow)?
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Yes and yes... that was their suggestion and it worked great on the small area I tried it on. Personally I love how copper patina looks. With the lines of the natrix, I think it looks great.
 
I thought that it oxidizes green, not black (based on statues gradually turning green), and I also thought it would take months or even years for that oxidization to take place. I never thought about the black on pennies as oxidization; I guess I always figured it was accumulated dirt. (Never thought too hard about it.)
 
The big difference is that the scales are solid copper, or at least I'd assume so. Where as a penny now a days is just copper plated zinc. The scales patina very very quickly, essentially darkening their color. The green patina will happen, but takes a very long time and exposure to the elements. Think about copper pipes in a house, only the areas where a leak has occurred is the part that turns green but the rest of pipe has darkened from its original color.
 
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