Patinas (Questions, Comments & Methods)

mnblade said:
Can you be more specific?
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Coated the blades with mustard and vinegar mix, result was
blotchy and uneven, however both blades do have a darker overall
background colour now.I'm still toting the little devil so it has not
affected my liking of it .
 
pauldulson said:
Coated the blades with mustard and vinegar mix, result was
blotchy and uneven, however both blades do have a darker overall
background colour now.
Click to expand...

Did you wash the blades and wipe 'em down with alcohol first? That's pretty key, as even the residual oil from your finger prints will contribute to a blotchy patina.
 
I tried so hard not to intentionally patina the CV trapper I've been carrying lately, but I sweat profusely. As such I was finding rust spots on the blade daily, even after cleaning and oiling daily. It got to the point that the rust bothered me more than the thought of a "fake" patina, so I gave it a vinegar bath. Now its a relatively even dark gray color. Yeah I know I didn't earn it, but I had to. For the knife's sake.
 
When cutting up fruit and the like, do you just wipe the blade off with a towel, or do you wash it to start a patina?
 
shooterpunk said:
When cutting up fruit and the like, do you just wipe the blade off with a towel, or do you wash it to start a patina?
Click to expand...

When I use it throughout the day, I just wipe it with my bandana, but at the end of the day, I clean her, strop her, and lightly oil the blade.

Peter
 
shooterpunk said:
When cutting up fruit and the like, do you just wipe the blade off with a towel, or do you wash it to start a patina?
Click to expand...

If it's citrus or something really acidic, I'll wipe the blade down so rust spots don't form. If it's an onion, potato, or anything that aids in the patina, I'll cheat a little and let the blade sit fr a while without touching it. ;)
 
Hey I just bought my first 2 knives that have carbon steel and I intend to use (I’ve gotten others over the years but they’ve mostly been collection pieces) they both are developing a patina however I would like to see what some of yours looks like. On one of them im getting darker spots along with the other shades of gray, were these cause by some other food? At first I feared it might be rust but I sure now that the spots are dark gray and not red, plus they’re very smooth with no pitting.

Talk about making a short story long…think you guys could post some pics so I can see what mine might look like? Oh and if you induced I’d love to see what patterns go with what methods. The two knives are a Case bone stockman 6332 and an Opinel I’m letting both of them develop a patina naturally but if I like what I see I may pick up a hand full of Opinels and do a little experimenting.
 
here you can see just a few of mine:

DSCFpatina.JPG


Peter
 
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Before I started using my Case CV Trapper regularly, I reprofiled the edge, bringing the edge bevel down a bit, and thinning the edge. After being used in the kitchen over the past few months, it's got quite the patina going, except for the area above the edge that I thinned out. This part of the blade doesn't really get sharpened anymore, yet it seems that a patina just will not form on the area right above the edge. Anyone have any ideas on why that may be?

I'll try and post some pictures if I can get my camera to work.
 
Never have
Never will

I think the mustard patinas look butt ugly...IMHO
To each his own though

I do LOVE natural patinas
2094606225_292756dd8a.jpg
 
mnblade said:
Did you wash the blades and wipe 'em down with alcohol first? That's pretty key, as even the residual oil from your finger prints will contribute to a blotchy patina.
Click to expand...

Ah no I did not , just whacked the mix on , new boy error.
I'll have to give it another go .
Thanks for the heads up.
 
I was into customs in my early collecting days and I fancied a crocus or satin blade. When I turned to production knives I kept my 63032 free of rust spots with crocus or a very fine scotchbrite pad.Always oiled and maintained the joints. The insides still spotted up, the brass, rust spots on the inside springs, dings from dropping it. Carved my initials in the bone one boring night at work years ago. I'm gonna get another 63032, still in CV, maybe for Christmas. You can't beat this knife for $40.00.

P1010041-2.jpg


I tried putting a patina on my Mooremaker stockman and took it off with chrome polish. I used my 6347 on a few pieces of porterhouse. I like how it cuts, but I cleaned it with hrome polish. some slight stain remains, but these days I like a natural patina.
this Camco had a rusty fingerprint on it when I got it. I took my Copperlock and just scraped the surface rust off. The stain remains.

a5eb_11.jpg


If I get a rust spot I just crape of the surface and oil.If it gets some spider webs I just leave 'em alone, maybe oil them.

Here's my best patina...All natural. And Red bone any day over plastic.
Sincethis photo was taken a small chip ended up on the scale where the can opener tap hits.:mad:
P1010030.jpg
 
stockman242 said:
here you can see just a few of mine:

k800dscfpatinaxf3.jpg


Peter
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Peter, That's a superb bolsterless stag(bonestag?) at the end there,what is it please?

Stag looks really enhanced with patina and colour-use:thumbup:

In fact, colour-use is the name I give to patina built up with patience,general use and a little care brings it all along.That said, I do have reservations about the taste left on fruits from new carbon knives:eek: and I use carbons on veggies to be cooked ,meat etc,for fruit I prefer stainless.

I'd go for the yellow handle myself,looks very good with an even patina and CASE CV takes it on very quickly and evenly.Better in that way than Böker or G.E. in my exp.
 
Now I remember it:thumbup:
Real generosity there, a wonderful knife and gesture.
Liked that tractor in your pic as well:D
 
I don't want to rattle anyone's cage but I'm a little bit puzzled as to why some folk artificially force a patina on a new knife. Surely part of the appeal of a carbon steel blade is both the ease of keeping it razor sharp and watching the colour change over time as it gets used?
A lot is said about carbon blades having 'soul' in a way that stainless don't. If you force a patina aren't you 'forging' its life story?
Jacknife, in his wonderful stories frequently touches on this aspect and I always feel myself nod in sympathy to his astute aesthetic.
I'm no zealout and happily carry stainless and carbon blades but when I look at my 40 year old Sheffield pen knife, it's near black blade speaks to me of countless childhood adventures on the Scottish hills and moors. Making bows and arrows, 'war clubs', as we called them. Gutting brown trout and cutting sticks to roast them, shaving feathersticks for fires and climbing trees to carve my name at the highest point I could reach. It was an inexpensive boy's knife, a 2" blade and a plastic handle, festooned with the picture of a giraffe and the word 'Africa'. Now, it still 'walks and talks' is scary sharp and not a hint of rust.
My taste in knives has come full circle, from the usual suspects you can easily guess at, back to traditional slippies, helped a little by our draconian carry laws. But, and it's a big but, a good small slippie can quite literally do it all, at least for this Jock.
I like the idea of a knife used hard, treated well and telling its own true tale.
Also, these forced patinas look wrong to me, far too uniformly grey, almost like a factory finish. In fact, are Case et al missing a trick? Could this be the next big trend in the footsteps of 'pocket worn'? They could maybe be called 'Pre-Patinated'.
Of course, this begs a few questions as I like pocket worn, does this make me a hypocrite?
Anyway, I'm starting to ramble but I would like to hear other views on this.
I do apologize if it's all been done to death already!
 
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