Patina damage?

S

Space Coyote

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Feb 17, 2015
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I'm curious if patina can cause any serious damage like pitting?

Let's say i were to force a patina on a blade, then cover it in super glue, could it damage the knife over time?

I tried googling it, but couldn't find a straight answer, figured this place would be a good place to seek such info.

Thanks in advance.
 
I don't know about the super glue, but I have forced patinas (and some natural patinas) on several of my high-carbon blades, and I have never had any pitting or other issues at all. The only thing I have encountered is that a patina can wear off with hard use of the blade. When that happens, I re-treat the blade with distilled white vinegar to re-patina the blade.

Hope that helps somewhat.
 
A patina prevents active, destructive red rust.
No reason to coat the blade with super glue, with or without a patina.
If you prefer a shiny polished silver blade with no patina, just put a light coat of a food grade oil on the blade after use. Oh, and avoid peeling or slicing apples.
 
The iron in the blade has to be able to react with something in order to oxidize. If there is a homogeneous oxide barrier, it should be protected from further (unintentional) damage. If you treat you blade with something like vinegar. Make sure that you don't rinse it after with water. Water can pass that barrier without breaking it and become trapped under the top layer. You want to pat dry it with a cloth (preferably after powdering it with baking soda post-obtainment of desired look, in order to wick off excess acid and neutralize it). And even with a patina (forced or natural) you still want to oil the blade in order to make your top layer hydrophobic. Because evaporating water is still the fastest way to oxidize iron under normal circumstances. That's why if you rinse a strait carbon steel blade and let it air dry it will redden quickly (by the time it is dry). If it is a knife that will be coming into contact with food I would suggest extra virgin olive oil (lowest free acidity of a kitchen oil, and a fairly debris free oil at that).
 
Thanks everyone, much appreciated.


Helleri said:
If you treat you blade with something like vinegar. Make sure that you don't rinse it after with water. Water can pass that barrier without breaking it and become trapped under the top layer. You want to pat dry it with a cloth (preferably after powdering it with baking soda post-obtainment of desired look, in order to wick off excess acid and neutralize it).
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Thanks for that extra info!
 
You can get pitting if you are over-enthusiastic with your patina forcing, you end up basically acid etching the blade.

As for CA glue, why? If you are looking for something to protect the blade there are better options.
 
gadgetgeek said:
As for CA glue, why? If you are looking for something to protect the blade there are better options.
Click to expand...

Well, not the blade, more so the handle..
I was thinking about stripping a coating off a knife (made of sr101) and doing a patina so i don't have to worry about it as much. Then, was figuring i would like to patina the exposed tang and butt of the knife for aesthetically pleasing reasons (haha)

And...
Helleri said:
And even with a patina (forced or natural) you still want to oil the blade in order to make your top layer hydrophobic.
Click to expand...

So i was thinking super glue would make the exposed tang/butt completely sealed with keeping the patina for looks and leaving the cutting area as is.

Bunch of ridiculousness, but really got me curious about it all.

I'll probably just strip and keep it oiled up as needed, can't be too hard to keep on top if it.

But, curious, what would you suggest over super glue?
 
Space Coyote said:
(...) I'll probably just strip and keep it oiled up as needed, can't be too hard to keep on top if it.

But, curious, what would you suggest over super glue?
Click to expand...

Basically, you just answered your own question. The simplest way to protect the blade is simply to keep it clean, dry and oiled if needed. If you use the knife regularly, that should be easy enough; you'll notice any issues that might be a problem (wet, dirty, etc), and you'll take care of it. If the knife gets stored away for a length of time --> clean, dry & oiled, and NOT stored in a sheath is the answer. Anything improvised to 'coat' the blade will inevitably lend a false sense of security, especially if any moisture or corrosive stuff manages to get underneath the coating used. Assuming the blade is always protected is just an excuse to ignore it, and that's when rust will turn up, when you're not watching for a while.


David
 
Gun bluing is a form of forced patina... a uniform one... :) It won't absolutely prevent rust, and will still need to be oiled.

It just buys you a slight margin in preventing oxidation in "good" conditions
 
Yeah, so i concluded... simpler is typically better:)

Just got into thinking about everything.. i'll have to experiment with the patina and super glue with some metal purely out of curiosity haha

@Rapt_up, yeah i considered that too, but i want my knife safe for food, so i ruled that out haha
 
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