Vinegar and bleach on carbon steel

black mamba

black mamba

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I have seen some great blade finishes done in "vinegar and bleach" that looked almost damascened, on steels like O-1 and 1095. I am just starting to do my own handle scales and reprofiling some blades, and am curious about how this finish is achieved, the process. Does it actually make the carbon steel more rust resistant? Any explanations or comments much appreciated. BTW, this is my first new thread. Thanks again.
P.S. Do the home gunsmith bluing products work OK for carbon knife blades?
 
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It reacts with the iron on the blade surface to form Iron(ll) Oxide (ferrous Oxide). If all the carbon on the surface of a blade is in the Ferrous Oxide (black) form, it can't rust red forming Ferric Oxide.

That's how it protects the blade, it's a simple chemical reaction. THe patterns come from the internal structure of all the constituent alloys reacting differently with each iron atom and different concentrations of alloys throughout.
 
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Black Mamaba,
I don't believe in trade secrets. Most everything has been done before. That finish is a combination of a few things.

I try to forge as close to shape as possible. Then I clean up with files, sanding paddles and stones. After its all finished I will do a vinegar soak for 2days to remove the scale and darken the metal. That's the perfect scenario for me.

Sometimes the filing and sanding removes much of my hard-earned forge marks or makes it look uneven. Also, if my forging is way off from the geometry I had intended, I will need to re-establish the flats with a coarse file or hit the grinder. Unfortunately, that tends to erase all. When that is the case, I like to etch a patina into it to keep up with my look. I do this by hand sanding with emery cloth down to bare metal and applying a gun blueing solution. I let it dry but don't rinse it off. Instead I go direcrly to a bleach soak for about a half hour. When removed, its covered in rust. I then scrub it with steel wool and WD-40. That's it....

The above W&SS Contest SCurve was one of those "uneven" ones. I had soooooooo wanted a pure forged look to show off for the testing... but alas, I was forced to go with plan B.

It is still a really cool finish and almost has a damascus look to it.

Rick
 
Rick, I read every page of that contest results (what an undertaking by Brian!?!) and thought then that your knife was the best looking of the 11. I too love forge marks, but that blotched finish looks terrific! Maybe it should be plan A after all. Thanks a ton.
 
I've found different steels require different soak times in the bleach to get the same effect. The 1084 that I use seems to take longer than 01. Also I seem to get a more even amount of ecthing if I remove the blade a couple times during the bleach soak - wipe the rust off with a paper towel - then back into the bleach.
Have fun experimenting with it!

Bruce
 
Another awesome maker from the challenge! Bruce, thank you so much for the specifics. I'll be experimenting on my dad's old Imperial with stacked leather and probably 10xx something steel.

Dadsknife.jpg


BTW, this knife was old when I was a kid 45 years ago!
 
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