Show your backspring patinas

Railsplitter

Railsplitter

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Oct 31, 2010
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I pulled this old Remington R100A out of its storage case last night because I plan to carry it for awhile. I don't normally get too excited about patina. In most cases I can take it or leave it but last night I was reminded how much I like the patina on these backsprings. It wasn't put there by me as it takes me forever to form a patina on a blade and even longer to get one on backsprings. This one earned its patina in someone else's pocket.

Anyway, it got me thinking that some pics of other backspring patinas might be kind of cool. I don't recall ever seeing a thread on the subject. Would love to see what you've got.



Here's an obligatory pic of the rest of the knife.

 
Nice contrast, Rick, I'll see what I can come up with when I get home from vacation tomorrow.

I don't think I've ever taken a picture of just the springs of a knife, so they'll be all new photos.
 
Here's an Uncle Henry medium stockman (897UH) that I received in a trade with Keith (gonebad395) quite a while ago.
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Nice knife (that still needs some work on its blades), but what floored me about the knife was the remarkable backspring patina! :thumbup: It impressed me so much that I did take a photo of it:
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In a surprising development, at almost the same time I received a NIB 897UH as a gift from Dean, and I took this comparison photo, too:
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Cool idea for a thread, Rick! :cool:

- GT
 
I'm at work now, but my northwoods presidential has a seriously dark patina on the back spring. It has been carried through out a hot and humid summer which really spread up the process, plus it has brass liners. From what I understand brass seems to accelerate the patina process. I could be way off though.
 
Jeff, glad to see that you are still enjoying your vacation. Hope you enjoyed the Grammy's.

GT, That's what I'm talkin' about! Those springs look great!

Erik, looking forward to seeing the springs on your Presidential.
 
I have some old timers with nice patina like yours Railsplitter. Ill try and get some pics tomorrow and post'em up
 
Back springs are tough to capture!
I might have misrepresented the presidential. A while back I had polished the whole knife, and it just hasn't gotten the same pocket time since. It's dark, but prior to the polishing I remember it being almost black.
Next to it is a '40s-ish Camillus that I also polished up at one point, but all the pitting and deep patina is still very evident.
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And here's my main carry knife for the past year and a half, the 77 Barlow. This knife gets a ton of carry and is usually with me on even the hottest most humid days of work but shows far less wear than the presidential. I like how the springs are significantly darker in the areas where the liners are juuuuuuust a hair proud. But as you can see(it's harder to tell through the pictures) the back spring is a lot lighter. This is the same with all my steel lined knives.
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I also polished the 77 a while back. I tend to do that spur the moment when I start getting bored with a knife and always regret it. I wiped a ton of character of the 77 and presidential specifically. I fear the pres will never be the same as I've moved away from carrying such large slip joints.
 
Great examples, Erik. Thanks for sharing. That's interesting about the backsprings on your #77 and other steel lined knives.

I have an all steel #14 that I would like to get a patina on the backsprings but I can never seem to carry it long enough. It's usually my watch pocket knife and that's the one I rotate most often.
 
My Dad gave me his old Buck 321 Bird Hunter; he carried it bird hunting for many years, I've carried it for about the last six. I noticed that it had a strange patina on the backsprings. The knife looked like a coating of some sort had peeled off, about three years ago I cleaned it up; here are some before and after shots. OH

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Here ya go Rick, my Dowell Trapper that he did in acid etched A2. It had a nice even grey patina when I received it but it's taken on some character since then. The stainless liners set off some nice contrast.

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Rick, that's gorgeous knife, the patina was gained through many years of use.

Here Case Tested XX model 6116 SP

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Mike
 
Hopefully my Oeser will look as good as some of these in 20 years!
 
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Good stuff guys. I'm enjoying all the variations. Please keep them coming!

Mike, I thought you might remember that old Remington. I've enjoyed it immensely since it made its way across the sea. Thank you for letting this one go. It's in good hands.:thumbup:
 
Here's my small carbon collection, just some quick overcast pics.





Hopefully Gary Graley pops in here with the Primble Congress I gave him, it had nice dark backsprings with worn coined brass liners :)

~Chip
 
Here ya go. The 2nd from left and two on the right are going to members here so i grabbed some shots before they head out

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WValtakis said:
...

Hopefully Gary Graley pops in here with the Primble Congress I gave him, it had nice dark backsprings with worn coined brass liners :)

~Chip
Click to expand...

Thanks again Chip and yes, well I'm not a big patina kinda guy, but the contrast between the brass and darker back springs do look good, just put some ferric chloride on them to spruce them up a bit;

Primble_backsprings by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

now the blades, I had cleaned up and keep clean from any patina, just me, others will love it, I do not. Also I have taken and rounded the spines of the blades and set some swedges on them as well, being now rounded and polished, it rides comfortably in my watch pocket and is also nicer in the hand during use as well.

Primble_rounded_spines by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

a very nice knife, Chip if you are getting the urge to get this back, just let me know :)

Primble_hand_bw by GaryWGraley, on Flickr

G2
 
I'm really liking the patinas against the brass liners. Something about the contrast of the brass and patina is very attractive.

Thanks everyone for all the great pics.
 
My GEC #92:

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I've taken some oxalic acid to the backspring once or twice to get rid of some noticeable fingerprinting in the patina, but this is usually more of a problem near the pivot so the butt of the knife has remained a bit darker:

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