soaking a titanium & steel knife in vinegar -- bad idea?

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videorecipes

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Jan 12, 2017
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354
hey all,

i'm thinking about trying to force a patina on the m4 blade of a spyderco mantra. rather than disassembling the knife (don't want to void warranty, strip screws, etc.), could i just dunk the whole knife in vinegar or some other acid? it's just titanium and steel, so i suspect it'd be fine -- thoughts?
 
I would think that Spyderco would view the vinegar as a caustic environment and if there was any issues with the pivot, you would be on the hook.

Plus, you would likely have to disassemble the knife to clean the pivot out anyway. If you didn't, you would risk having some trapped in there longer than you wanted, causing a bit of a mess.
 
NJBillK said:
I would think that Spyderco would view the vinegar as a caustic environment and if there was any issues with the pivot, you would be on the hook.

Plus, you would likely have to disassemble the knife to clean the pivot out anyway. If you didn't, you would risk having some trapped in there longer than you wanted, causing a bit of a mess.
Click to expand...

hmmmmm. good points, good points.
 
videorecipes said:
hey all,

i'm thinking about trying to force a patina on the m4 blade of a spyderco mantra. rather than disassembling the knife (don't want to void warranty, strip screws, etc.), could i just dunk the whole knife in vinegar or some other acid? it's just titanium and steel, so i suspect it'd be fine -- thoughts?
Click to expand...

I would not do it. Its always best to take it apart if you are planning on doing the whole blade pivot point and all. Acid removes metal. I dont know about forced patinas though. But i would bot want to be changing the finish of my lock face on the blade or its lockbar if steel. The only way i would domthismwhule assembled would be a masking job and not allowing the liquid to touch anything where dimensions and finish changes would affect performance. I thought there were laws about warranties. Like they cant deny a warranty for disassembling unless it was the actual disassembly that causes the failure. I may be wrong but i thought that was at least how some companies handled it even if the written warranty says otherwise. Is spyderco known for killing warranties?
 
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PURPLEDC said:
I would not do it. Its always best to take it apart if you are planning on doing the whole blade pivot point and all. Acid removes metal. I dont know about forced patinas though. But i would bot want to be changing the finish of my lock face on the blade or its lockbar if steel. The only way i would domthismwhule assembled would be a masking job and not allowing the liquid to touch anything where dimensions and finish changes would affect performance. I thought there were laws about warranties. Like they cant deny a warranty for disassembling unless it was the actual disassembly that causes the failure. I may be wrong but i thought that was at least how some companies handled it even if the written warranty says otherwise. Is spyderco known for killing warranties?
Click to expand...

yeahhh, unless i'm mistaken, spyderco considers any kind of disassembly justification for voiding your warranty. you make a great point about the lock face on the blade being altered!
 
You can make it work pretty easily by taking the knife apart and covering the bearing track on the blade and lock face with clear nail polish to prevent it from forming a patina and interfering with the action. You want to stop the blade from rusting, not jack up the action of the knife.
 
Try peeling and cutting up apples to start with and see what you like .
On 1095 , I have used Rhubarb , and that gives you a real dark patina real quick .

Harry
 
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