preserve heat-treat surface colors?

daizee

daizee

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Dec 30, 2009
Messages
11,176
Hi O Knowledgeable Crowd,

I have this pair of A2 knives that I was preparing to polish in prep for handles.
But the heat-treat patterns are so damn pretty...

I started to polish the perimeter of the paring knife first, as is my routine, and rather than looking goofy as expected, the contrast between the shiny rounded spine and the crazy colored flats stopped me in my tracks!

Question is this:
Is it possible to keep this? Just tape up and go to handles?
How hard is this surface oxidation? I couldn't scratch it off with the end of a brass tube.
Does it provide any corrosion resistance? Will the knife just patina in time and then look crappy, like a war in a petri dish?

I only sanded these to 360 before heat, as usual. If I'd planned on keeping it I'd have gone one more step to 600...

I'm leaning toward sucking it up and polishing them to 1000 like normal, and then trying this again in a more planned fashion, depending on the sort of information that bubbles up here.

-Daizee

(pardon the blurry pictures, not enough light, and flourescent...)

IMG_20120731_211814-small.jpg


IMG_20120731_211958-small.jpg
 
Why not do something like cord wrap the handle or just put some cheap wood on a rough shape and cut up a bunch of stuff and see how it holds up. It is a pretty thin layer so might not do well in use. Also, if your going for the finer finishes with a air hardening why not go to the finer grits pre HT. I now go all the way to an a30 (800 grit) belt pre HT on my D2. Stuff just sucks to sand after it is hardened
 
I would sand it off. It isn't of any benefit, and there is a thin layer of decarb steel that needs to be removed. It won't last anyway.

Would you leave the primer on a car you were restoring because it looked COOL...or paint it with five coats of lacquer and make it really look good? If you were buying that car, which one would you want?
 
If you are going for that look, you can polish them out and then run another draw cycle. You should get a color pattern similar to that.
 
Hmm, alright. Thanks, Everyone.
For this pair I'm going to polish them out.
But perhaps there will be a low-risk future experiment. maybe 600-1000 pre-heat, then JBS's idea, then wax the snot out of it.

-Daizee
 
daizee said:
Hmm, alright. Thanks, Everyone.
For this pair I'm going to polish them out.
But perhaps there will be a low-risk future experiment. maybe 600-1000 pre-heat, then JBS's idea, then wax the snot out of it.

-Daizee
Click to expand...

I make some pocket tools. I used to scrub the color off, but I have found that people really like the color on them, even if I tell them it will wear off in a few months. I decided a little decarb layer isn't an issue for pocket tools.

I usually get pretty good color with a light coating of WD-40. What did you use?
 
Tait said:
I usually get pretty good color with a light coating of WD-40. What did you use?
Click to expand...

a pinch of a years-old pile of mixed sawdust from under a tablesaw. That's what usually goes into the foil packet along with the blade.
 
Update: by lateral inspiration, these will be the heat-treat colors retention experiment:

IMG_20120804_165004-small.jpg
 
daizee,

Thats flame colour Ti sexey , with A2 cutting . I love the contrast ( and the knives of corse) .

I'd be intersted to see how long the colours last.

Although nowhere near as nice , I've always wondered about doing something similar with the brown decarb layer on N690. Might give it a go next time i'm doing a utility blade for work

Thanks for sharing

Wack
 
Doesn't it make sense that if the cutting edge is past any decarb the rest would be a non issue? How would having decarb on the sides/back of the blade affect function?
Andy
 
wack said:
daizee,

Thats flame colour Ti sexey , with A2 cutting . I love the contrast ( and the knives of corse) .

I'd be intersted to see how long the colours last.

Although nowhere near as nice , I've always wondered about doing something similar with the brown decarb layer on N690. Might give it a go next time i'm doing a utility blade for work

Thanks for sharing

Wack
Click to expand...

Wack, I have done this and it holds up as well as most any patina would. I finished a piece in N690 all the way through glass bead finish prior to HT and ended up with a bronze looking matte finish. It was great! (shown here)

I leave a few of the blades finished this way and they are sold faster than the cleaned up ones. I can't account for this but customers find the colors attractive.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Other color....

sany0052r.jpg

By goatherder62 at 2012-05-11
sany0007w.jpg

By goatherder62 at 2012-05-02
sany0019.jpg

By goatherder62 at 2012-05-02

There is no effect on function on the blades with this nor is there a significant amount of rust on these here in humid Florida that is any different than any other carbon steel altered blade.
 
jonnymac44 said:
Nice little Dashis Daizee:thumbup: I'm curious to know how long the color stays.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Jonny!

The difference between these 'dashis and the paring/hiking pair at the top is that the dashis have cleaned bevels (on a stone by hand), whereas the other blades would have had the bevel surfaces left colored and prone to scratch-up. I think this might be a good configuration since the pretty colors won't be covered with scales.

I waxed them several times with Flitz Rifle & Gun wax, as with most of my blades. It's hard to say how well it took, but the kydex sheath on the larger one hasn't rubbed anything off yet. The larger one has a fairly coarse 220g finish, and the little guy is somewhat smoother. I'll post an update as they age.

-Daizee
 
Bye-bye, Pretty Colors...

IMG_20120811_213744-small.jpg


(daamn, it looks cool half-polished too!)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top