patinas: why only cover part of the blade?

T

theunforgiven1

Joined
Jul 28, 2014
Messages
26
hey everyone im new here i just signed up a few moments ago, and i wanted to first say hello to everyone here. ive done an awful lot of reading this forum [both ka-bar and becker sub-forums] and i have seen a trend concerning forced patinas only covering a portion of the blade, usually in a design, which i really like alot of what i have seen and has given me a few ideas of my own for when im ready to strip my new bk2& bk11 so my question to you is why not cover the entire blade? or am i missing something?
 
Welcome!

I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you talking about the handle portion as well or just the blade?

If I patina a blade, I usually do the whole thing. I don't do the handles tho cause I usually don't strip that part.
 
I strip the whole blade, and leave the handle coated so I don't have to worry about rust under the scales. I haven't seen too many knives with only a partial strip on the blade.
 
theunforgiven1 said:
hey everyone im new here i just signed up a few moments ago, and i wanted to first say hello to everyone here. ive done an awful lot of reading this forum [both ka-bar and becker sub-forums] and i have seen a trend concerning forced patinas only covering a portion of the blade, usually in a design, which i really like alot of what i have seen and has given me a few ideas of my own for when im ready to strip my new bk2& bk11 so my question to you is why not cover the entire blade? or am i missing something?
Click to expand...

Because they like the design it makes?
 
That is only for decoration...by not having a patina on the whole bare blade you will need to do more preventitive maintenance on it...like oiling and keeping dry
 
As mentioned some folks will leave the coating on the handle portion to protect against unseen rust. If the blade were to rust, you see it and can deal with it quickly where as under the scales you might not find it for a while. Also the scales can trap moisture making the tang more prone to rust.

If someone only strips/patinas a portion of the blade itself then it's purely for aesthetic reasons. For example, on my BK2 I sanded off the coating on the grind only and left the flats or upper portion of the blade coated because I though it looked cool. Doesn't serve any other purpose other than I was really bored and it sets the knife apart from most.
 
A lot of times you can achieve a design and still have the whole blade protected. It just takes multiple applications. On my BK2 i used mustard with a few drops of apple cider vinegar to thin it a little. I used a q-tip to apply the design and left it on for about 45 minutes. I rinsed it,dried it and did the same thing to the other side. After 45 minutes i washed it off and dried it. Then i soaked a paper towel in Apple cider vinegar and wrapped it around the blade. I left that on for 15-20minutes. I have had the same patina on it for well over a year and no issues (with very minimal maintenance). The paper towel application leaves these small dots that look like golf ball dimples. I liked it a lot.
2012-10-18_22-19-50_170.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top