To force patina or not?

S

SFI_Slyfox

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Sep 24, 2013
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Just finishing up my first double edged knife. I was planning on giving it a forced patina in vinegar to darken the steel ... and add rust resistance? I haven't ever done it before but the process seems pretty simple. I'll probably be selling it here later on the forums so I just wanted some opinions about if I should force patina it? Also if someone could identify the wood, I found it in the shop and know its a hardwood I got for knife handles but it was well over a year ago and I cant remember what it was.

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I can't help you with the handle material. I personally suggest going for a patina. In my opinion, it is a great way to finish a knife. I suggest wrapping the blade in TP and soaking that in vinegar. Let it sit like that for a few hours and repeat until desired results achieved.
 
Wait are you asking us to identify what wood you bought a year ago? Or did I read that wrong?
 
Thanks for your opinion Ferahgo, and yes Buck I did ask that. I've never been a big wood worker and was just curious if this was a wood someone more knowledgeable could identify by sight. I believe I pulled it out of a scrap bin at hardwood store so it wouldn't have been labeled.
 
Personally, I would suggest not forcing a patina if your plan is to sell the knife. There's nothing wrong with a patina, forced or otherwise...but a) it instantly becomes a used knife, and b) not everybody appreciates the same look. Let the buyer do the patina if they want one.
 
the handle looks like permanently attached...i'm not sure if it is still possible doing a good darkening job now.
 
You do have a point hhmoore, it does appear to be cheap and easy for anyone to do themselves. Also, I dont know that it matters but the wood was stabilized.
 
I'd leave it as is. You could offer to do the patina as part of the sale. Do you have any picks of the wood before it was stained?
 
There is no stain, thats its natural color. I can take a picture of the rest of the wood in the morning thats not stabilized but I didnt notice much difference.
 
If you don't know what it is, don't identify it.
I don't mean don't try to figure out out...I mean if you don't know for a fact that it's a certain type of wood, don't say. If you're asked, tell what you know - in this case, it's a hardwood that you picked up a while ago to use for know handles; but you really don't remember what it is.
 
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Na, its not going to be anything insanely special. Its hardwood and it looks nice. That's all I really care about.
 
Hard to tell the true color from the photo but appears to be from the Rosewood family, more specifically Cocobolo.
 
The wood looks like Palisandr/Rosewood to me. Good stuff. And I would not go for a forced patina because of the knife construction: I can not see how you can do it evenly without affecting the wood, with the full tang, steel butt and everything.
 
I would guess a variety of rosewood and have to say the purple tinge lends itself to E. Indian Rosewood specifically but wood being wood there are always confusing variations!
 
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