patinas

[sasquatch1]

i read in the most recent blade magazine that you can force a patina by sticking the blade into a potato leave it for 24 hours then run it under some hot water. has anyone tried this or heard of this. what are the results?

thanks

 

[foxx]

I have not, but some carbon steels would turn blueish from potatoes. I could see it working. This may not be the "thickest" patina, and could change, all of them change with use.

 

[jll346]

Mustard works great.

 

[sasquatch1]

what kind of mustard? is there some kind of trick to it or ratio?

 

[Machetefoot]

hmm... sounds delicious. heres a thought. edible blades!!! we could all be rich!

 

[foxx]

It's the vinegar!
Clean blade with alcohol. Now choose, make a pattern with mustard, thin is better you need some air for the reaction. Or, wrap the blade with a towel soaked in white distilled vinegar. Wring out the cloth, you still need the air!
Leave for 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how deep and dark you want it.
Other foods cause a patina to happen as well. Mangos, potatoes, apples, strawberries, hot beef fat, cut a hot pizza, and other foods can work.
Leave the food on, with some air interaction.
Wash and oil the blade afterwards. IMO, the mineral oil is important, the steel almost takes in some of the oil. Maybe not so much in a light patina, but a further one.
You can do a Vinegar/rag application for 30 minutes. This makes a more uniform grey. Then make a pattern with mustard, and leave it on for an hour. You can get a black pattern with a grey background. Again wash, and oil!

 

[Prophet118]

I've used apple cider vinegar. It works pretty good. So does coffee; gives it a dark, even patina.

 

[james terrio]

It's the vinegar!

When it comes to mustard yeah, it's the vinegar in it. But almost any acid will work to varying degrees, from lemon juice to tomato sauce to nitric acid. Experiment, but use a little common sense and try not to burn your face off in the process!

 

[scout_77]

I like the mustard because I think you can be more creative with it.
This is 3 layers of random drops, then a light wet sand with 2500 grit, and 2 more layers. I have done some more recently that I think look better but don't have pics right now.

 

[PIndelicato]

I haven't ever done this sort of thing as it's not usually my cup of tea, but this knife recently posted by Daniel Fairly (hope you don't mind, Dan!) I thought had a particularly interesting looking 'grapefruit' patina. He also posted some information as to how he did it.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/threads/835460-Tanto-inspired-in-.262-5160-and-MCAM

 

[sasquatch1]

i gotta say that patina is really really cool from that link

 

[GrizzlyBear]

I did these old Forgecraft carbon steel knives of my mom's with a base layer patina done with cider vinegar soaked paper towels. Then for added texture, I painted/dabbed on a mixture of yellow mustard and cider vinegar in various stages.