patina?

R

ryry

Joined
Jan 14, 2011
Messages
61
yes I am a noob I know, but can some one explain the purpose and process of a patina? I've seen some cool looking ones but I just have no idea what the heck they are really or why you would do one, or how for that matter! thanks guys!
 
Don't worry it's not a noob question =)

Anyways, a Patina is a light coating of rust (not red rust, red = bad) that protects the steel from further corrosion. This only applies to carbon steels however (althought some stainless can form a patina, it will take a MUCH longer time to do so)

The funky patterns you see are what we call a "forced" patina. Normally, using carbon steel and keeping it clean over time will allow it to develop a natural and more permanent patina. A forced one however, can be achieved by exposing the carbon steel to anything acidic, such as: Cutting lemons/limes, vinegar, mustard etc... By drawing on the specific acidic material in a different way can allow you to achieve a different affect.

The main difference is, a natural patina will be harder to wear off, and a forced one is usually easily removed with a scotchbrite pad or high-grit sandpaper.

Here is a picture of my RC-4 that I sanded the blade finish off and got this patina effect by soaking a paper towel in vinegar and wrapping it around the blade several times.

P7110207.jpg


In the end it comes down to personal preference. Having a coated blade will ensure it won't rust... but a smoothly sanded and patina'ed blade may rust but has better slicing ability... <-- because of the lower friction. Plus you can make your blade 100% unique!

I hope that answers your question =)
 
wolffbite....:thumbup:

Leave some Horseradish on you blade for a 45 minutes, leaves a strong patina and will not come off easy.
 
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When you guys do a forced patina, do you try to protect the edge from getting the solution or just clean it up after the patina? I was curious as I have heard that the patina really dulls the edge.
 
wolffbite said:
I hope that answers your question =)
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Good explanation! The traditional bluing on firearms is also the result of a chemical reaction similar to the reaction that creates rust. There are two forms of iron oxide: Fe2O3 or red iron oxide (common rust) and FeO or black iron oxide which is the material involved in bluing and some patinas.
 
Liveitloud said:
When you guys do a forced patina, do you try to protect the edge from getting the solution or just clean it up after the patina? I was curious as I have heard that the patina really dulls the edge.
Click to expand...

Of course it depends on how long you leave the edge exposed to the patina agent, but i would NOT agree that it dulls the edge significantly - it certainly does dull it a little but a few passes on a stone will bring it back to hair-popping.

So I wouldn't worry about protecting the edge during the process - would be more of a pain in the ass than anything IMHO.
 
Thanks that's good to know. It sure would be hard to try to avoid without having a patina line anyway.
 
If I want to examine a nice natural patina, I just take my late grandfather's old butcher knife and look at it. Now that's a patina. :)
 
Here's my Izzy. I find that doing a light coat of yellow mustard applying it in a very light swirling motion is the best looking. Patinas are pretty awesome IMO. If you look in JK's sub-forum under the user pics thread, there's some much loved knives in there with some nice patinas.

2010-09-09145317.jpg
 
Liveitloud said:
When you guys do a forced patina, do you try to protect the edge from getting the solution or just clean it up after the patina? I was curious as I have heard that the patina really dulls the edge.
Click to expand...

Just clean it up after. When I do mine I leave the mustard on for several hours. Overnight sometimes. And although I try NOT to hit the blade with the mustard, I haven't noticed any drastic problems with the areas of the edge that do get hit.
 
So it sounds like mustard is probably the easiest way to get a pattern for the patina? Also, does anybody know if this would void the warranty? I don't plan on sending mine back ever, but if I did break it, it's nice to have. Jeff or mike feel free to chime in.
 
kneedragger650 said:
So it sounds like mustard is probably the easiest way to get a pattern for the patina? Also, does anybody know if this would void the warranty? I don't plan on sending mine back ever, but if I did break it, it's nice to have. Jeff or mike feel free to chime in.
Click to expand...

Can't see how it would but if you send it in to have it re-coated then you'd probably end up in one of there idiot warranty threads.:D The best thing about patinas though is that if you don't like it just sand it down and try again.

The acid does etch the blade so it can look like a damascus if you were to sand the patina off. This is especially true the longer you leave the mustard or whatever on for a long time.
 
wolffbite said:
Don't worry it's not a noob question =)

Anyways, a Patina is a light coating of rust (not red rust, red = bad) that protects the steel from further corrosion. This only applies to carbon steels however (althought some stainless can form a patina, it will take a MUCH longer time to do so)

The funky patterns you see are what we call a "forced" patina. Normally, using carbon steel and keeping it clean over time will allow it to develop a natural and more permanent patina. A forced one however, can be achieved by exposing the carbon steel to anything acidic, such as: Cutting lemons/limes, vinegar, mustard etc... By drawing on the specific acidic material in a different way can allow you to achieve a different affect.

The main difference is, a natural patina will be harder to wear off, and a forced one is usually easily removed with a scotchbrite pad or high-grit sandpaper.

Here is a picture of my RC-4 that I sanded the blade finish off and got this patina effect by soaking a paper towel in vinegar and wrapping it around the blade several times.

P7110207.jpg


In the end it comes down to personal preference. Having a coated blade will ensure it won't rust... but a smoothly sanded and patina'ed blade may rust but has better slicing ability... <-- because of the lower friction. Plus you can make your blade 100% unique!

I hope that answers your question =)
Click to expand...


exactly what i was looking for! thats a pretty cool process!
 
Shotgun said:
Can't see how it would but if you send it in to have it re-coated then you'd probably end up in one of there idiot warranty threads.:D The best thing about patinas though is that if you don't like it just sand it down and try again.

The acid does etch the blade so it can look like a damascus if you were to sand the patina off. This is especially true the longer you leave the mustard or whatever on for a long time.
Click to expand...

No I wouldn't send in for a new powdercoat. I have a buddy who can do that for me. I would only be if i broke the blade or something. I think I'm going to try for a dark patina this weekend.
 
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