The Road to Patina

[VCM3]

O.K.,O.K.,I know,I've preached to many a knifemaker,about how I prefer ss,here on the salty tip of the Island.
Gotta come clean,though,I have a deep rooted Patina fetish.It started with some high end productions,I've now kicked it up a notch (sound familiar,BAM!),to custom's.
I've asked Mike,I've asked Larry,I've asked Elliot,Ford,James,Rick,no one knows.Is there a telephone number I can call some where for some help ??
Anyhow,Here's a Tomes trapper,forged 52100,I was down in the kitchen this morning & snapped this one :

By midday,I had it set up with a red lead (watch the Sopranos) induced patina :

Here is a production Wichester cigar type whittler,it has some preliminary treatments done to it,seen here ( By Dr. Patina,sounds Italian,too,don't it ?)

With the Holiday season upon us,you guys who dabble & play with food 'n' stuff with your carbon slips,let's see what you've done (Now look what you did! You made that shiny steel turn brown !! )

I'll get you a shot of the Winchester this week,with a different look,but you gotta crawl,before you can walk.
I know a few of you guys got some,let's see 'um,bring on the patina'd carbon !
-Vince

 

[jacknife]

I like the finished result of a patina but not the stages in between that's why I like to give mine a head start with some vinegar.
I have a nice carbon butchers knife that I thought I'd just let the patina develop naturally and it still looks horrible even after about a year, just spots of patina ....not nice :barf:

 

[VCM3]

I'll show the Winchester tomorrow,she don't look like that,no more,that,is just a phase it's going through.
-Vince

 

[mnblade]

I like the finished result of a patina but not the stages in between that's why I like to give mine a head start with some vinegar.
I have a nice carbon butchers knife that I thought I'd just let the patina develop naturally and it still looks horrible even after about a year, just spots of patina ....not nice :barf:

I've had good luck taking carbon steel knives that get that blotchy, unappealing "pre-patina" and rubbing them down with a Miracle Cloth. If you rub too much you'll take the patina clean off - but a little rubbing evens things out and results in nice dull gray.

 

[VCM3]

mnblade is so right,& that's exactly what I've been doing,but I use a soft cloth
You can even out the patina,you get a different look,on different steel & finishes every time
Here are the same two knives after a clean up rub down

It seems the more you use them & clean them up,they take on an even patina easier.Logical,I know,but it is cool to get the knife to have that "broke in" look
-Vince

 

[KnifeHead]

Hey Vince...I know you recently saw this knife of mine. The patina on this A2 blade was induced by etching it with ferric chloride. Sometimes you can find it for sale as PCB etching solution at Radio Shack but I have heard that some of the stores stopped carrying it. It can and should be neutralized with an ammonia solution like some household cleaning solutions have.

The nice thing about it is that it is fast. You can put some on a Qtip and get up close to the joint next to the bolster. Just make sure you don't slosh it up into the knife where you can't get to it or you'll have to give it a neutralizing dunk. You can follow that up with some 0000 steel wool to mellow it out and get that grey patina.

 

[RandyW]

I like that look too..This is my EDC. I wouldn't mind having a couple others in 52100 with this patina..I never paid much attention to blade material until I started reading up on it and then Blues turned me on to the 52100..It holds a super sharp long lasting edge..R

 

[sunnyd]

.. It seems the more you use them & clean them up,they take on an even patina easier.Logical,I know,but it is cool to get the knife to have that "broke in" look
-Vince

Exactly!. That's the way to do it. Jackknife says he doesn't like the stages in between from start to finish and so he gives his a head start. And to each his own.. I am just the opposite in that regard.. I love the blueish, purplish, grayish colored swirl patterns that remind me of a cold winters day outdoors. The kind you get from good honest use each time you cut into an apple for a quick snack or whittling into damp wood for some chore or another.. This '74 Case 6202 1/2 comes to mind.

I got this one full of rust and had to clean and sand it back shiny again so I could start over. An its getting there slowly but surely.

 

[bdws1975]

Forcing a patina feels the same to me as buying preworn hats, with the visors all torn up.
I like to use it and then whatever patina forms, that's that.

However, you guys have some nice looking ones going.

Good luck!!!

Take care all,
Brett

 

[RAN]

I sliced some onions with a hunter made out of W2..the parts of the blade that came in direct contact patina'd immediately..so I just rubbed the rest of the blade down let it set awhile then light polish with soft cloth

 

[Blues]

...This is my EDC. I wouldn't mind having a couple others in 52100 with this patina..I never paid much attention to blade material until I started reading up on it and then Blues turned me on to the 52100..It holds a super sharp long lasting edge..R

Randy,

I'm glad you're enjoying that beauty of a knife and I'm not surprised that you've learned to love 52100 as many of us have. It's a great steel (especially when forged imho).

 

[Bastid]

I have always been the "just let it happen" type.
Now you guys have given me something else to piddle with. .

 

[stingray4540]

I started this guy out with a nice even light gray vinegar patina, but lots of use since then has given it spots and streaks: Or were you talking mostly slipjoints?

 

[kamagong]

I've done both. Most of the time I've forced it because I don't like the beginning stage. On my large Eye Brand stockman I decided to let the patina develop naturally. It's still not where I want it to be, but it's getting better. I do admit to cheating a little and leaving the juices of cut up foods linger on the blade longer than I normally would, but hey, it's still natural right?

 

[VCM3]

Kerry,Your chemical methods give it a great etch.
The method I used yesterday,get this & don't laugh,I stirred the spaghetti sauce (gravy,as the Italian Americans say) with the blades,just a dip,and rubbed it around like Ran says.Between the acid from the tomatoes,and the pork fat from the meats in the sauce,combined with a little heat,I got some good results.

My wife thought I was just tending to the sauce,I was over there like a little kid,playing in the sandbox.
I like a micro fiber cloth,for the rub down & I've been using this chrome wheel polish that Larry sent me.

Randy,Thanks for posting your EDC.I was hoping you'd add that one to this thread
-Vince

 

[zeppos]

My current EDC (i showed it in another post earlier) when i just bought it:

And after three weeks of light use on apples and pears, paper, salami...

.

 

[smiling-knife]

These knives came to me already patinated.

 

[Darbyfett]

Hey Vince...I know you recently saw this knife of mine. The patina on this A2 blade was induced by etching it with ferric chloride. Sometimes you can find it for sale as PCB etching solution at Radio Shack but I have heard that some of the stores stopped carrying it. It can and should be neutralized with an ammonia solution like some household cleaning solutions have.

They have mostly stopped carrying it, but my local Radio Shack is ordering some for me from one of the few stores that carry it.

Beautiful knife BTW

 

[Will Power]

These knives came to me already patinated.

JUST LOOK AT THAT FIRST KNIFE:thumbup::thumbup:

They came to you s-k because they knew they'd be well-treated and appreciated by many others

 

[Will Power]

I sliced some onions with a hunter made out of W2..the parts of the blade that came in direct contact patina'd immediately..so I just rubbed the rest of the blade down let it set awhile then light polish with soft cloth

Onion, but particularly red ones or shallots put a kind of blue-purple colour on the knife, really nice effect. Wonder which knife they patinated in 'Goodfellas 'when cutting up onions for the 'gravy' in prison

Also, what is this Miracle Cloth people talk about? Something not heard of in the EU perhaps?Expensive?