To patina or not patina ... that is the question.

MajorD

MajorD

Joined
Mar 18, 2007
Messages
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This is a topic just for curiosity sake. Just a personal preference question. I'm curious where people stand on patina. I know a lot of people here love it and work hard at creating it. I admit its a cool look. I also understand the protection purpose of it but I personally like a nice shiny blade. :thumbup: I'm not fanatical about it but I will take my blades after a few uses or trips and polish them with Flitz and oil them with mineral oil if I'm storing them.

I think I'm in the minority when it comes to patina. :D
 
I just like to use mine and let them do what they want. I did a forced patina on an ESEE and q as unhappy with it.
 
Based on all the photos I've seen on the Fiddleback thread/forum, I may very well be in the minority as well. I personally don't have any inclination to force a patina on my blades. I too oil them most of the time after each heavy use, but don't polish the surface of the blades (except I guess "polishing" the cutting edge).

I actually prefer the gradual "maturation" of my blades as I use them (which for me is primarily woodcraft/camping work and occasional processing of small game), seeing a combination of scratches, color changes, etc. little by little with each use. I even have some small chips along the spine of the knives that I used to throw sparks with a flint. I think of each of my tools as a form of a canvas that'll tell excerpts of my life to reminisce about in my older years. Each knife for me will tell a story, something I hope to share with my children and their children.
 
Hey Dave,

I like both :)

I have some blades that have some amazing (in my eyes) spalting and I love how it looks with a shiny blade. So I'll either not use those blades for food or if I do, I clean, flitz, oil, to keep them shiny. Others, especially my EDC knives, I let form a natural patina. Personal opinion of course, but I don't like forced patinas with mustard patterns, etc. As the natural patina develops over time it gathers some amazing hues and tells a story.

You'd never know it from looking at it, but the following Hunter is my most used Fiddleback and sees almost daily Kitchen use. And also sees almost daily polishing. :) The Runt is my most used EDC.

IMG_3143_zpsa7280786.jpg~original


IMG_3146_zps1f61eb09.jpg~original
 
Not a fan of forced patina - they just look dirty or un-kept IMO .. and I prefer using Frog Lube on my blades.
 
For me, I like a polished blade when it comes to more of the 'technical' and 'tactical' knives. For the other more 'natural' looking knives, I like a patina on them; gives it more of an earthy and warm feeling. I don't really like forced patinas because they don't tell a story and it forces 'character' on a knife.

Slowly 'bonding' with my bushfinger:
bushfinger_11.JPG


bushfinger_12.JPG
 
I haven't used anything but food prep and use to create a patina in quite some time. That said, every time I use a new knife for food prep I use the food prep itself to force the patina along by mincing extra of whatever I am cutting up and applying it to both sides of the blade like a paste. I am the opposite of some of you, shiny tools and "the new look" are things that have always annoyed me for some reason. Any time in my carpentry career that I had to replace a hammer, I would scrape all the stickers off and find a dirt road and start skipping the hammer down the road like a stone on water to speed up the aging process...
 
thurin we think exactly the same. My Runt looks just like yours. I forgot about it and admit that is one that I don't clean or polish. I do like the "used" look on my Runt.

You made a great point about the contrast and the spalting. I really like the look of it with a clean blade. My kephart still looks new and it's had quite a bit if kitchen use.


Mist, You be rough on a new car!! :D
 
I'm torn between the two. I'll put a patina on and a few weeks later, I'll want it shiny and clean.

As long as carbon steels are around, this will always be a good question and a pondering issue with knife owners.
 
I have 3 Fiddleback's...... So far...... I like to keep my blades shiny. I agree that the Spalting looks better against a non patinered blade. I'll clean and oil after use. The handles against the different textures of blade and Spalting are what I really love about the look of FidddleBacks.
 
I just use my 01 blades, edc, kitchen duty ,whatever. I eat apples with them constantly. The cool colors that the 01 blades take is an attraction to me. Makes them mine. Kinda like my tool belt or my hammer, took years for them to get like that, now I def wouldn't want to replace them.
 
I'm kind of a neat freak, so to me a patina means "dirty" or "tainted" like a stain. That being said I've got a guardless woodchuck I've delegated to the kitchen that's developing a patina on it. I actually am starting to think its pretty neat that all those different colors can come out of one piece of metal
 
i like patinas myself..i havent forced one on a fiddleback they just occur during my use in the kitchen

last time i was at andy's shop i had him fix something i screwed up on my runt(the tip) he asked me if i wasnted him to make it all shiney & "new" again & i told him heck no
 
This has turned into a great topic! I'm diggin all the different opinions!
 
dcycleman said:
I just use my 01 blades, edc, kitchen duty ,whatever. I eat apples with them constantly. The cool colors that the 01 blades take is an attraction to me. Makes them mine. Kinda like my tool belt or my hammer, took years for them to get like that, now I def wouldn't want to replace them.
Click to expand...

I'm with ya D. I do the apples almost everyday as well & that is how I christen all my new Fiddlebacks. I seem to go through a lot more apples now messing around. I love the patinas! The blades look so happy to be used & they do tell a story. However I really prefer the natural patina...
 
I've been pretty much just using mine and not worrying about it. I do end up using mine in the kitchen a bunch but its just so I can get to use them more than for the patinas. I live right smack in the middle of Seattle which means I'm not getting to EDC anything fixed and it rains so much here that my outdoor usage is mostly just in the summer. I don't mind carrying O1 in the rain but I will usually just carry something stainless so that I don't have to spend the time in the woods worrying about my knife rusting vs. actually enjoying being in the woods. I know that it's not *that* big of a concern but I love my knives so I over worry a little. :)

I was trying to get a good photo of the patina on my bushraptor from the kitchen use but the lighting was terrible and my phone focused weird. The photo turned out sort of cool so will post anyway...
photo_aksdjh3u_zps7de7c773.jpg
 
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