Potato peeling and 1095: patina tour de force

[jackknife]

I've had this Norfolk Whittler for a week. As a diabetic, I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. I've found this knife extremely efficient at cutting up my veggies and fruit.

In some ways, I feel I have destroyed its original beauty. When it arrived, the blades were pristine - beautiful. The blades now look, well, like this. And we're talking potatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, cutting the occasional sandwich, apples, oranges - you get the idea. I didn't soak it in vinegar other than using it to cut up salad with dressing on it - I've just used it. A lot.

Question for you all - will the patina even out over time?

The original beauty of the knife was a pristine item that had not been used. It had not ever been put to the tasks that it was designed and manufactured for. It had not yet lived nor collected any memories. A natural patina speaks of the knifes use and by way of that, the owner. A natural patina will always be a bit splotchy, uneven in appearance as it's a random effect from use. That's why I don't like the forced patina from hot vinegar or other means. It's sort of fake. Your knife looks way better now than when it came out of the box. It's a living artifact that is in a working partnership with it's owner. My GEC that I've been using has developed a natural random patina. The randomness comes from different tasks at different times.

Look at some of the really old kives, and you will see random patina. Maybe lighter in some areas than others. A dark blotch where something sat on the blade and wasn't wiped off for a bit. My own knives are like that of late because like you, I have some health issues that are making me eat better. A problem with high blood pressure has me eating lots of veggies and salads, and way less meat. I've been edging closer to a semi vegetarian diet for a few years now, but it's been speeded along by my desire to avoid going on medication. So my knife gets lots of slicing of all kinds of vegetable matter from bell peppers, cucumbers, avocado, and others. Sometimes after slicing up something, I lay the knife down and go to the cabinet for some spices, and the knife sits on the cutting board for a bit. By the time I get around to cleaning the blade, new dark splotches have formed a different pattern. It's sort of an ever changing patina.

 

[Andya27]

Thanks, Jackknife. I appreciate the input.

Your Damascus Peanut is outstanding.

 

[jon_slider]

I feel I have destroyed its original beauty.

then you may not be a good candidate for carbon steel
however, you can get the shine back pretty easily, either with a strop, or my current favorite method, Sunshine cloth.

my edc with patina

here is my edc, after removing all patina

patina after steaks

patina removed again

here is the patina after a few Chile Relleno meals

from where you are now, with patina you do not like, your choice is to polish it off, and keep your blade stropped or sun shined clean. You can also just do a partial patina removal, which will even it out as new patina forms over that layer. Another common polishing tool you may have is a Jewelers Rouge cloth, sometimes sold for polishing silver...

your reaction is one reason some people like stainless

when I give a knife away, I sometimes consider who Im giving it to, and may choose to give a stainless blade, so I don't have to go through the explanations about patina

ps, steels to consider in USA made knives include D2
also many of the laguiole, le thiers and Opinel are available in 12c27 I believe. It gets great reviews as a very sharpenable stainless, unlike D2.
Case makes knives in stainless.
GEC also makes some stainless steel knives, here is a quote from their site
"While a growing number of knife enthusiasts enjoy the labor of love that is taking care of carbon steel, we realize there is a demand for a high quality stainless steel alternative. Our GEC branded knives are fitted with 440c stainless steel blades while still being designed and built with the same craftsmanship and quality as our other brands. Like 1095, our 440c is a very traditional blade steel which more than lives up to our highest level of standards."

 

[arizonaranchman]

Completely natural patina from use and carry over the past 7 months. Not much food prep, but it has been my steak knife (or chicken, pork chops, etc) a number of times. Lots of splotchy and uneven change at this point, but over time it will do what it will do without interferance.

 

[r8shell]

The original beauty of the knife was a pristine item that had not been used. It had not ever been put to the tasks that it was designed and manufactured for. It had not yet lived nor collected any memories. A natural patina speaks of the knifes use and by way of that, the owner. A natural patina will always be a bit splotchy, uneven in appearance as it's a random effect from use. That's why I don't like the forced patina from hot vinegar or other means. It's sort of fake. Your knife looks way better now than when it came out of the box. It's a living artifact that is in a working partnership with it's owner. My GEC that I've been using has developed a natural random patina. The randomness comes from different tasks at different times.

Beautifully said, Carl.

OK.
Deep breath.
Today's the day, I'll cut some fruit with my 2013 forum knife.

 

[puukkoman]

Carl, very well put.

And, Andy, yes... your patina will even out in time. You'll find that the first "coats" of grey will rub off more easily; take an old washcloth or an inside-out gym sock, and rub it down vigorously, and the dark spots will become lighter. I like to do this several times as my blades start to patina, so that there aren't super-dark patches that stand out as much. This will help the formation of patina be much more uniform.

 

[SAK Guy]

Onions, oranges, ham and bananas are working nicely! :thumbup:

 

[r8shell]

I cut up some lemons and got this neato camo pattern:

[/URL][/IMG]
Main blade has been put to work on some fruit, as well:

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[Andya27]

I've gotten some pretty interesting rainbow colors from using my Northwoods Barlow as my dinner knife.

I do have to say that the dark patina of my original photo has worn away considerably. The blades now have a more even patina. Still, 1095 seems to take a patina quicker than my CV Case knives.

 

[Andya27]

I cut up some lemons and got this neato camo pattern:

[/URL][/IMG]
Main blade has been put to work on some fruit, as well:

[/URL][/IMG]

If that's what lemon does to steel, imagine what it does to our teeth.

 

[jon_slider]

If that's what lemon does to steel, imagine what it does to our teeth.

LOL! Im going to stop eating raw potatoes then .. And what about Apples, is that what caused my tooth patina ;-)

I wonder how my sonic toothbrush would work on my Charlow patina.. be right back.. hmmm, not as well as my sunshine cloth.. Now wait! I wonder how sunshine cloth would work on my teeth? (too scared to try)

from this

to this

no patina, no problem

 

[Andya27]

My original photo shows a very different looking knife from what it is today. Below is a photo taken a few minutes ago. It's interesting that with use, the blades actually have less discoloration than one day after peeling potatoes. I imagine over time a true patina will appear. But what I mistook for patina must have been fool's patina.

 

[festerfromnzed]

My #23 has cut everything....#46 has only cut passionfruit....nearly instant patina.......................FES

 

[Gary W. Graley]

Guess I'm just a little on the crazy side as I've never been a fan of patina at all, one of the reasons I'm about all out of carbon bladed knives.

A few stainless Case folders and my Le Thiers obtain a nice edge and still look good after a meal

Also my Opinel's are good like that too, used my #9 to slice up my cheese steak sub at lunch
G3

 

[csisland]

The best patina is a hard earned patina, and not forced by cutting a few vegetables. That's what kitchen knives are for.

 

[Andya27]

The best patina is a hard earned patina, and not forced by cutting a few vegetables. That's what kitchen knives are for.

I'm not sure what hard-earned patina will be for my knives. I'm not a hunter. I don't fish. I don't cut down trees. I live in a somewhat urban environment. Most of what I use knives for is cutting vegetables. Guess my knives will have to earn their wimp patina.

 

[Andya27]

Guess I'm just a little on the crazy side as I've never been a fan of patina at all, one of the reasons I'm about all out of carbon bladed knives.

A few stainless Case folders and my Le Thiers obtain a nice edge and still look good after a meal

Also my Opinel's are good like that too, used my #9 to slice up my cheese steak sub at lunch
G3

My next purchase will be a Le Thiers. With one of those beautiful stag handles. There is something appropriate about a shiny blade on a beautiful knife like that.