Patina on a Case with cv steel

If you want a fast forced patina, this works great:

  • Degrease/wash your blade with dishwashing soap and water and dry it.
  • Find a small, microwave safe glass. Fill it with white vinegar to the depth that if you put your knife blade in it, point down, that the vinegar would stop just short of the bolsters.
  • Microwave the vinegar to just before it starts to boil. Take the hot glass of vinegar out of the microwave. Holding the knife by the handle, dip the blade into the hot vinegar until is is just short of the bolster. The blade will start to sizzle like an alka-seltzer. Hold it in there for about 20 seconds. Take the blade out, it will be mostly black. Wipe it off with a paper towel. A lot of the black will come off. Repeat the dip and wipe if you like. You can re-heat the vinegar if you want to.
  • When you are done, wash off the knife and make sure you rinse it off well around the joint. Dry thoroughly and use some oil on the pivot. Spread a little oil on the blade and wipe off excess.

If you want a natural patina - get some apples. Use the knife to cut up an apple. Leave the knife with the apple juice on the blade while you eat the apple. Then go wash and dry your knife after use. Repeat the process over several days. I call this the "take an apple with you to work for lunch" approach.

I prefer the look you get from just using the knife to eat apples over a period of time, personally.

I generally don't like having a patina on my CV knives so I polish the blades every so often to keep them shiny. I am not a fanatic about it so they generally end up with a light gray but shiny look to them over time.
 
All good info here.:thumbsup:

Fairly dramatic result can be obtained by washing the blades in very hot soapy water, drying and then sticking the knife in a Lime overnight. Pears give fine patina too. Wash off and dry in the morning. Just wipe your blades after use and all will be well.
 
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large CV Sodbuster.
 
akaMatt said:
Cut a nectarine or two. Let the blade sit for a few minutes while you eat it, then wipe off the blade with a wet paper towel and wipe dry. I just discovered that with a new Case pen last week over lunch!

Case-MT-pen-1.jpg
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Nectarine for the win !
Three thumbs up :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
My new favorite patina juice (fresh fruit).
That and tomato but I think nectarine is even better.
On this last Case CV I tried every thing from fresh hot coffee grounds, to lemon and apple and tomatoes and a few others I can't think of right now.
Nah dude nah . . . none better than nectarine for that nice blue. Because I did all the other stuff I have golds, reds, black . . . she's looking eclectic. I may one day just clean it all off and start over with nectarine though.
 
I'm not sure this is "appropriate" for a traditional slipjoint, but here's something I've done before:

Birchwood Casey cold bluing, either liquid or paste. Follow the directions on the bottle/tube and polish with fine steel wool (I use 0000). Repeat a few times for a deep color. I did this with a $10 Mora and got a beautiful result. All the guys at the local knife store were impressed and the proprietor liked it so much he did the same thing to several that he had in stock.

(I got the idea because I was trying to fix up a couple of Western G46 "shark" knives that had been stored in their sheaths for about 70 years. :eek:)

UPDATE: It has been pointed out further down in this thread that the selenium salts used in cold bluing can leach out and be toxic. At any rate, they will impart a terrible taste if a cold blued blade is used with food. DON'T USE THIS ON ANY KNIFE THAT WILL BE USED WITH FOOD.
 
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Wowbagger said:
Nectarine for the win !
Three thumbs up :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
My new favorite patina juice (fresh fruit).
That and tomato but I think nectarine is even better.
On this last Case CV I tried every thing from fresh hot coffee grounds, to lemon and apple and tomatoes and a few others I can't think of right now.
Nah dude nah . . . none better than nectarine for that nice blue. Because I did all the other stuff I have golds, reds, black . . . she's looking eclectic. I may one day just clean it all off and start over with nectarine though.
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Glad to hear that worked to your liking! I was kinda surprised how quick those reacted with the CV. I don't eat them often, but it just happened to coincide with when I got that pen.
 
I go from letting my CV blades patina, to scotchbriting it off, and then starting over. Usually I just use them to cut fruit for lunch: apples, nectarines, pears, etc. I'll even go so far as to slice into some grapes or cherries and let the juice sit on the blade for a while. Strawberries give you some nice blues and golds.
 
Not really tried to patina this one and not often used lately. It did get some use when I first acquired it buy yhen got sidelined.The new one has never been used.Interesting how although the red one has been in the box for a long time the patina has continued to develop.20170921_072239.jpg
 
Clean with alcohol. Soak in warm vinegar for 20 minutes. Rinse with hot water, do not rub. Let it sit for a while and you're ready. If you don't like the results the first time just soak it a little longer.
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Take a raw potato & stick the blade into it before you turn in for the night. When you get up pull the knife out & lightly wipe it.
If it is too dark for your liking lightly rub it with 0000 steel wool.
 
I use Oxpho cold blue on my hard use work knives after cleaning them with alcohol. Sometimes they almost have a case-hardened look to them. Cold blue seems to hold up better for me and I like the contrast with silver bolsters and lighter colored scales. I always clean them well with hot soapy water and them give them a light rub with mineral oil.
 
Wowbagger said:
Now you tell me.
How comeit ? Does Cold Blue have cobalt blue in it or some stuff ?
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Mind you, this is based on one sample I had, but - most of those cold blue compounds have selenium salts that aren't nutritional. The cold-blued knife I had smelled awful whenever it cut something wet, which is a signature trait of the selenium. We're not talking about the faint carbon steel smell, we're talking mildewy-canvas-tent-filled-with-wet-sand-after-three-weeks-at-scout-camp-in-July stench. Tasted pretty bad, too, and that was enough to let me know that it was leeching out of the blade too much to be safe. Forthright got some feedback from @knarfeng that the cold blue solution was toxic.
 
When in doubt, read the MSDS of your chosen product:

http://www.brownells.com/userdocs/MSDS/082-024-032_OXPHO BLUE LIQUID, 32 OZ. - 083_default.pdf
https://www.birchwoodcasey.com/geta...432,13489-Super-Blue-Liquid-Gun-Blue.pdf.aspx

You do what you want. I would not put that stuff on something that would result in it slowly wearing off into my food.

The process I mentioned earlier, of repeated baths in edible acid (white vinegar) is basically "rust-bluing" which is food-safe and more durable.
 
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traumkommode said:
Mind you, this is based on one sample I had, but - most of those cold blue compounds have selenium salts that aren't nutritional. The cold-blued knife I had smelled awful whenever it cut something wet, which is a signature trait of the selenium. We're not talking about the faint carbon steel smell, we're talking mildewy-canvas-tent-filled-with-wet-sand-after-three-weeks-at-scout-camp-in-July stench....
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Back in the days of selenium rectifiers, if you ever had one burn out on you -- oh, boy, the smell. Good times, good times... :p
 
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