Seeking advice and wisdom on bluing a knife

[Kitsune Kodachi]

New user here... I'd really like to hear more about what to expect with bluing a knife (its a Becker BK2). This is my first attempt at doing this, and I'm using Birchwood Casey Permablue and klean strip to remove the factory coating. Whats the extent of how well the bluing will hold up (is it going come off as soon as I start to use the knife heavily), if so will more coats of bluing help? Will this process really protect from rust or is the knife going to require more care now? Is the bluing going to show scratches as noticeably as the original factory coating? Also is the final finish going to be truly midnight black like the original factory coating or is it going to be a dark reflective gray color like I see on many other blued and modded knives? Any insight is much appreciated as I said this is my first attempt at bluing so please enlighten me.

 

[Bill DeShivs]

Cold bluing is simply a coating of tarnished copper sulphate. It offers almost no protection against rust. It wears off very quickly and scratches easily.
It's a terrible finish for knives or guns and it's not "bluing" in the true sense of the word. The finish will be a mottled grey and it will stink. More coats don't help anything.
Cold bluing has ruined more guns and knives than anything else.
The original finish is much tougher. Even "real" bluing is a terrible knife finish.
If "bluing" were a good finish, don't you think the manufacturer would use it? Leave the knife alone.

 

[HeavyHanded]

^ Good advice.
I used cold blue on a small Mora Classic years ago. It stunk, left residue on food, and provided zero rust protection. I did look nice for the first day or so.

 

[jackknife]

What they said!!^^^^^^

 

[bdmicarta]

I did the cold blue on a Becker and it came out fairly well. The finish has held up under some light use in my garage but under hard use I think it would wear fairly quickly. I do seem to remember a Cold Steel knife that came with a blued blade.

 

[FordRanger]

I've blued a few blades with Super Blue and never had them leave residue or smell after the first week, and rust only shows up around the edges (with regular cleaning) where I didn't quite coat it well enough, like on the Opinel I just posted in Traditional.. maybe I got a good bottle? haha.. But it does scratch and wear pretty easy. It will not be an even, solid-color finish, as there will be splotches of black, gray, and blue. The only time I've seen it be a solid color was on my Trailhawk, which also hasn't scratched and worn as easily. I gave it I believe eight coats, with a rubbing alcohol swabbing between each. If you want a dark color and some protection, I'd go with ferric chloride or another form of acid bath.