Seasoning carbon steel

Brock Cutlery

Brock Cutlery

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Jan 10, 2015
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I am curious if anyone seasons their carbon steel to give it a patina and possibly corrosion resistance? If so, how?
Thanks
 
Most people just use salt and pepper, but personally im a strong believer in a dry rub.

But really, some people like to force a patina in their carbon steel by immersing it in boiling viniger for a while. It gives a matte grey finish that i personally dont find very attractive, but it is certainly more resistant to rust. Sadly, the only real way to stop carbon steel rusting is to either never use it, or to make sure you clean it well after use.
 
Vinegar, mustard, ketchup, lemon juice, FC .... all will etch and patina a carbon blade.
 
Make a good homemade beef stew from scratch.....with beef, onions, potatoes and carrots. Don't wash your knife until the next day. You'll have a nice patina with all kinds of neat colors.
 
Anything mildly acidic will patina a carbon steel blade. I like just letting my patina with use. Some guys stick their blades into a potato for a few hours. Cut some tomatoes, rub some mustard on it, heat some vinegar, or use some ferric chloride...

You might also look into Parkerizing which is another method of etching a type of patina into the steel for rust prevention/inhibition.
 
Look up the gun blue and bleach method..It makes a real deep patina that wont wear off but its a bit more envolved. If you don't find antying on it just say so. I can walk you through it.
 
Kentucky said:
Look up the gun blue and bleach method..It makes a real deep patina that wont wear off but its a bit more envolved. If you don't find antying on it just say so. I can walk you through it.
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Thanks Kentucky. That is kind of what I am looking for, a blue or brown patina. I'll do some googling.
 
I think the OP was referring to the type of patina seen on cast iron pans, called seasoning because it supposedly seasons the food cooked in them. This is quite a thick dark almost black coating that provides very good protection to the underlying metal. I also wonder why it is not seen on knives.
 
Seems like a mixture of rust and oil, somewhat like that last gun finishing technique. I thought there would be more info around it.
Everyone seems to have an old patina'd knife in their drawer.
 
Kentucky said:
Look up the gun blue and bleach method..It makes a real deep patina that wont wear off but its a bit more envolved. If you don't find antying on it just say so. I can walk you through it.
Click to expand...

I seem to recall a series of posts about gun bluing a knife making it poisonous for food prep!
 
fishface5 said:
I seem to recall a series of posts about gun bluing a knife making it poisonous for food prep!
Click to expand...

Seems it would depend on the chemicals used. I'm not wanting to use any exotic chemicals, I just want the rust bluing look.
I'm going to figure this out.
 
fishface5 said:
I seem to recall a series of posts about gun bluing a knife making it poisonous for food prep!
Click to expand...

Gun blueing is hot caustic controlled corrosion coating. Just a different looking patina basically. However, it can leach blueing salts for long periods of time. And will still rust if not kept oiled. The blueing salts can't be good for you, I'm sure.

Pan seasoning like cast iron pans isn't because it seasons the food. It's named so because a pan has been used for many seasons. The more you cook in it, the better it gets if cared for. However, that seasoning is the pores of the metal open up and trap the oil used. So that really good taste? Thats flavored with yesterday's gumbo and the day before fried fish. As more pores get oiled over time, it develops non stick properties. However, aggressive cleaning can ruin this and cause an iron taste to be imparted into the food.

Could a knife blade be seasoned? Probably not. Knives are not made from cast steel and do not have the voids thar are needed to entrap the oils.
 
I have a pretty good recipe for rust bluing, it's really simple and I'll post it later, as I'm at work now and the recipe is at home. Basically it goes something like this...
Take some hydrogen peroxide, heat it in the microwave, but don't boil it. Dissolve as much table salt as it will hold. Add a little white vinager.
Put it in a spray bottle.
Spray on steel, it'll rust instantly. Let it sit for 30 mins, wash it of with water and gently brush the rust chunks off with fine steel wool.
Repeat until it's as brown as you want it to be.
Oil it up.
If you want it to be blue/black boil it in water after each time you brush off the chunks. Stop when it's as black as you want it, then oil it up!
 
Nebulae said:
I think the OP was referring to the type of patina seen on cast iron pans, called seasoning because it supposedly seasons the food cooked in them. This is quite a thick dark almost black coating that provides very good protection to the underlying metal. I also wonder why it is not seen on knives.
Click to expand...
It's not seen on knifes since creating that seasoning would require high temperatures which would be detrimental to the blades heat treatment.
 
If you want a brown finish here is the best and easiest to use in MHO, Birchwood Casey Plum Brown Works great to give a brown patina to metal! Easy to use just make sure the metal is CLEAN OF ALL OIL AND FOREIGN SUBSTANCES. Then follow directions!

http://ads.midwayusa.com/product/13...Y7Uhg5C_IdiYn872ZKCeE8v7kwZLAkx1y1BoCGdDw_wcB


Here is a rifle that was done with Birchwood Casey Plum Brown, you can see the kind of finish you will get!

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It is as durable as the blueing finish on guns. With one exception with blueing you get a scratch it rusts, with browning, a scratch rusts to match the browning. :)

Browning or blueing it is the same process. Both are a coat of rust caused by the chemical that is applied. Most folks don't realize blueing is actually a coat of rust! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluing_(steel)

The trick with the browning is that you need to lightly sand with wet dry between coats. Be sure to clean with acetone and wear gloves both to protect your hands and it keeps skin oils from transferring to the metal!! This rifle has three coats on it! Neutralize the last coat with a baking soda mix and lightly oil!!!
 
So, here's the recipe I was talking about earlier:

1. Saturate 4oz of heated h2o2 with table salt
2. Add 1oz of white vinegar.

I suppose the oz measurements don't really matter, the ratio is what matters...

For best results get the part hot first, (I used hot tap water) then spray the solution on. Scrub it gently with a tooth brush and repeat until you have an even coat of rust.
Then use fine steel wool to even it out. Repeat this process until you have a smooth, shiny coat.
Then oil. Don't forget the oil, cause it's just rust after all!

This process takes a while, that's why it's called "slow rust bluing"!
 
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