parkerized finish?

Kumdo

Kumdo

Joined
Mar 7, 2000
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Hey kids. I just ordered a custom knife from Ted Frizzel at Mineral Mountain Hatchet works and am wondering if I made a good choice, with regards to it's finish (there still might be time to change my order!).

Ted uses 5160 spring steel in his larger knives and usually finishes them up with a black "parkerized" finish. I opted to not get the finish beacuse I knew that I'd have it scratched up badly in no time.

Ted informed me that if I keep it well oiled it may not patina, but there is a good chance it will. I figure the discoloring might actually look cool (it's a 5" tanto-tipped utility knife), and with liberal oiling, it shouldn't rust won't be a problem.

But I'm new at this, so any insite is appreciated. Any ideas?

Thanks,

JpG

 
5160 will almost certainly start to develop a patina over time. Cutting anything with an acid content (like fruit) will accerate the process. Look at the recent thread about cabon steel blades in this forum. Darkening and patination of carbon steel users is a Feature, not a defect. You might even want to consider darkening the blade more uniformly at the beginning by applying lemon juice. This will produce a light grey surface that will actually help prevent orange rust. I would NOT opt for the parkerized finish. Keep it dry and oiled and it will develop its own character with time. Enjoy!
 
Paraclesus,

Thank you for the great response. I think I will apply lemonjuice to the blade. Thereafter I will keep the blade well oiled.

Thanks for the awesome advice!
 
Parkerizing is one of the toughest finishes I have ever used on a knife. Looks good too.

Take a look at 50-60 year old WWII fighting knives with the parkerized finish and you will see that most of it is still on there even after hard use.

Its only disadvantage is that it makes a slightly rougher surface on the blade and causes some drag when slicing.

Just make sure to keep you 5160 blade oiled well. It is great steel...hold a pretty good edge and is beyond belief tough!
 
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