New guy here. Question about a bronze/brass knife

[Brad Galles]

I'm putting new handles on the first knife my dad gave me. I believe the knife is made of bronze/brass. I'm sanding the entire knife down on a granite surface stone to clean up the rough edges and make sure the handles are flush. The knife itself is a bright golden color now. I was wondering, is there a way to finish the bronze/brass so that it has that old antique look? I'm new to the knife making and figured redoing handles would be good practice. I have several old knives to re-do from blade to handle. Thanks for any help!

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I hope the knife is bronze, as brass would not be a very suitable material. Bronze turns a lovely brown with age, and is harder than brass.

It will "patina" all by itself with exposure to air. One way to assure that it does it evenly is to clean the knife with denatured alcohol before putting it aside to patina. If not, your fingerprints will patina first. There are many ways to "Force" the patina. Most use acidic solutions like weak vinegar water or sulphur compounds, like liver of sulphur. A Google search on "How to patina bronze" should give you many ways. I use liver of sulphur in a rather dilute mix, or a technique called "smoking" where you suspend the immaculately cleaned blade in a closed box with liver of sulphur ( or some other chemical) in a dish in the box. The fumes "smoke" the object with years of patina in a few days.

 

[Brad Galles]

Thank you very much for the information stacy!

 

[LRB]

The cold blue for guns will turn it black almost instantly. Then you can use oooo steel wool to lighten the areas you want lighter.