So...does anyone else hate patinas? :)

[thedaver8]

Perhaps a little. Might just be dried oil or some other staining.
But it looks like a knife that was really used, does it not?

definitely is well used. i'm having a hard time discerning the difference between why some call this a patina, when i would call this rust. i'm more used to the gray/blue/black hue of the more uniform patinas. so oil can cause these black marks?

 

[Stich2442]

I was sitting here thinking, not to change the subject, but as a child my first knives were all carbon, never gave any thought them turning grey, can't ever remember any discussion with friends about them, nor did I ever really oil them very much, just used them and sharpened them. Still have most of them. Don't think I ever called it patina until I found the forum, it was just a carbon steel blade showing its age. Oddly enough the only knife I've had rust is a Case stainless steel I've owned from 1980, little pit and rust spots? All my old Imperials & Ulsters are grey and fine with pretty much no preventative maintenance.

Pete

 

[quattromori]

I'm not a huge fan of carbon steels on slipjoints and pocket knives, and I tend to prefer stainless steels if I'm given the choice.
But that isn't keeping me away from a carbon steel blade. Not yet
As for a patina, I think a forced patina just looks better, and probably preserves the blade a little better from red rust.
So, if I can, I prefer to force a patina on a new carbon steel blade. Nonetheless, especially on old knives, a "natural" patina can look great.
One thing that I wouldn't do is trying to prevent a patina on a carbon blade. That's against nature

Fausto

 

[hunterjrg]

Some of mine had some signs of patina but I have since rubbed them with Flitz. I guess I liked the shiny blade.
To each his own.

 

[Doug Add]

I was sitting here thinking, not to change the subject, but as a child my first knives were all carbon, never gave any thought them turning grey, can't ever remember any discussion with friends about them, nor did I ever really oil them very much, just used them and sharpened them. Still have most of them. Don't think I ever called it patina until I found the forum, it was just a carbon steel blade showing its age.

That mirrors my experience (except all but two of my boyhood knives are long gone). That's just the way a used knife looks. To me, a shiny blade looks odd. The only knives on which I feel like a shiny blade looks okay are my Victorinox knives, because every other knife I have owned has been carbon steel that shows its use/age as it naturally changes over time.

It wasn't until I landed here that the idea of knife collecting (hence keeping them pristine) ever even occurred to my thinking. So, I now understand it from that perspective. It's just not an approach I have taken, or likely ever will. To each his own, indeed.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

With me, shiny blades are going to get scratched and mucked up. I prefer a patina (natural or forced). They look like an old timey knife. I prefer that.

 

[sitflyer]

I don't like patinas and given the choice in the same pattern would buy them in a good stainless like 440C over carbon steel in a heartbeat. I just took out a Northfield #25 for a pic today, and all along the side of the blade next to the spine it is peppered with pits. I only carried this knife for a few days then put it up for a bit. This is why I force patina, or blue my carry knives. Perhaps this is a symptom of having too many knives that get too little use...

 

[HwangJino]

love patinas. My patinas are all mirror shiny and smooth.

used lemon juice for Grey snake scales and beef blood and tuna blood for rainbow shimmer.

 

[street soldier]

I like my carbon steel blades to develop patina. I tend to sweat quite a bit, however, so it's a constant battle with rust.
One of the things I've started doing to help with rust/pitting is to use Chapstick. I learned this method from one of Carl's stories. He spoke of putting a thin layer of Chapstick on the blades, as the water repellency of it works to prevent rust from forming. So far it's worked great for me.

John

ETA: Here's the link to the story:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/899805-Chap-Stick!

 

[jazub]

Every time I use a high carbon steel pocket knife for extended periods, red rust spots seem to intermingle with patina. That's when the whole blade gets hit with Flitz. Patinas sometimes look cool, though. The only ones I keep a patina on were forced and skipped the red rust stage that mine all otherwise seem to reach in normal use.

It's nice to see handsome examples of old high carbon knives with patinas dragged up into view (since we can't see their vastly outnumbering brethren which have long since rusted into dust).

 

[knarfeng]

I love reading all the posts on patinas and seeing all the pictures--and i know i'm in the minority here--but is there anyone else out there that just likes to keep their blades looking shiny and purdy?

I won't say that I "hate patinas", but to me patina is just another form of rust. It will eat away at a blade more slowly than red rust, but rust it is, and it does eat away at the blade.

That being said, I have non-stainless blades, and some of them are stained with use. But, I prefer stainless. I don't polish away the stains, but for sure I will not "force a patina."

 

[Will Power]

A good even patina is desirable, but let's face it, it's elusive! It seems to me the only way to reliably achieve this is to carry one knife and only one knife for many months, or longer...

I dislike spots, red areas and pitting are repulsive!

So, I usually remove patina-often with a green scouring pad it gives a good matte base for even patina-or with polish and start again. A restless weirdness

Then there's D2.......

 

[knarfeng]

It seems to me the only way to reliably achieve this is to carry one knife and only one knife for many months, or longer...

I agree with that. And around here that is extremely unlikely to happen.

Then there's D2.......

Yes. Yes there is.

 

[Bob W]

definitely is well used. i'm having a hard time discerning the difference between why some call this a patina, when i would call this rust. i'm more used to the gray/blue/black hue of the more uniform patinas. so oil can cause these black marks?

Yes, many types of oil dry and harden, turning black over time (WD40 is a known example). I once received an uncommon Old Timer knife with a special Compliments of Schrade Cutlery etch. At some point someone had wiped the blade with oil, which turned very dark and was impossible to remove without destroying the important etch. Not only oil but blood and fish guts, pocket sweat, any petroleum product or chemical, food residue, moisture, or even soil and dirt will make spots and uneven colorations.

The blade surface of a knife after many years of use will be very un-uniform. Streaks, spots, divots and pits, dings and dents, scratches, etc. Nothing at all like a "forced" patina, which looks silly and out-of-place on a perfectly smooth flat blade surface. When I see a carbon steel blade on a recent production knife that's perfectly even gray/black, it looks fake.

Of course that's all my opinion, and I'm careful not to go around crapping on other peoples' topics or their forced patina knives; I save it for instances like this where someone has specifically asked my opinion about it.

 

[Bob W]

I'm curious, is there any historical reference to giving knives a fake patina? Or is it entirely a recent modern fad?

 

[Campbellclanman]

I LOVE my safe Queens, -that's why I have them - because they are very precious to me, and I want them pristine-if they are in my edc, I like them to develop an honest patina - although in saying this I have created a "boiley" ( refer Charlie on that one ).
Its funny, because I bought this very well loved and used Queen Winterbottom Bone Trapper, it had quite a bit of play- it was in my beginning stages of collecting/using and I put up a thread on "vicing" the Bolsters carefully to get rid of the play, it worked although there was a time I was scared I ruined the knife-never done again though - but whenever someone mentions Patina I think of this lovely ol' girl, the Winterbottom bone has a fantastic natural aged look to it, and the blades are booming with Patina...

 

[Stelth]

I HATE patinas and I think they look awful. I don't want my knife to "tell a story" have "character marks" or "age with me"...I like stainless steel.

 

[Will Power]

That's certainly a dandy Old Queen there

Good point that patina (like on furniture) is an overall thing with the handles contributing as well.

Thanks Will

 

[Campbellclanman]

Thank you Will kind Sir.

 

[MarkPinTx]

I sure like the patinas people put on their knives, but I have an awful temptation with a mirror glaze to try to keep it that way. I have very sweaty paws and it tends to darken the part of the blade that sticks above the frame. Does it with natural patinas, might not with a good dark forced one. I don't seem to have the same problem if its a satin finish, meaning I let them (old timers) darken away and i might even stick a new one in hot vinegar. But I can't seem to do it with the cv minitrapper.