Vinegar patina.

[[scuba]steve]

So i did the patina thing. long story short, after several attempts with out getting the result I wanted, my last try was wrapping a vinegar soaked towel around the blade. not what I wanted, but I like it none the less. I also did a small hatchet.

 

[Travinc]

looks like a real patina.... like its been in the shed for forty years

 

[SpookyPistolero]

Nice job, a patina is a good touch on most any blade (if only to prevent some rust). If you weren't totally pleased with the vinegar, try leaving it in a glass of lemon juice next time. It will leave a slightly deeper and more even patina.

 

[willworship]

It's really funny that you just posted this, because all week, I have been considering trying it on one of my BK2's. I will give the lemon juice a shot and post pictures.

I wonder if the 1095CV is a little more resistant to the patina because of the added chromium...

Anyway, first thing's first: I have to get the coating off.

 

[sd550]

Yellow mustard works well also, just put on a heavy coat and come back a few hours later and wipe it off.

 

[Rus]

Well done, it looks good. Like willworship said, I have been considering trying this too. I'm just about finished working on my BK11 I just got in. I think you are persuading me to go ahead and try it.

 

[culpritish]

Yellow mustard works well also, just put on a heavy coat and come back a few hours later and wipe it off.

I tried that, and it really didn't seem to take a patina with the first coat. Took about 3 coats as memory serves me. Maybe it was the no-name brand of mustard....

 

[PayetteRucker]

I use a no-name mustard brand frequently and it gives a solid but unpredictable coat. I've tried to give blades tigerstripe patterns by coating in triangular mustard shapes for 24 hours followed by soaking in vinegar, but haven't made anything of it. But in all cases, a forced patina has produced a user-friendly corrosion resistant coat that escalates over time. Practicality? I give it 5 stars. Eye appeal? 1 star. My knives are all users so frankly I don't care about appearance

 

[dannyboom18]

how did u get the paint off to patina it??

 

[slt]

I used standard yellow mustard to give the blade a light patina, then a mixture of mustard/ketchup/bbq sauce/vinegar/lemon juice/mayo dabbed into stripes to give it additional eye-appeal.

Only down side is the faint smell of mustard everytime I draw the knife - but I can live with that.

 

[[scuba]steve]

Actually, yellow mustard(French's) was my first step, it left a really dark circle around the edges, but nothing in the center of the blotches.(i also tried a tiger stripe ala ZT/Strider) the mustard was not setting dark enough, hence why i tried the vinegar rag, after some use I plan on applying another patine, using lemon/lime juice. and more vinegar.

 

[[scuba]steve]

And as to the removal process, I did not use any paint stripper, i used a razor blade, flat scrapped off the paint, the used a medium grit sand paper.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Try yellow mustard.

It is thick enough to put any pattern on you want. You can do dots, you can draw designs, what ever you want.

It is super easy. If you want to take the old pattern off, just strop it, or metal polish.

 

[Bigfattyt]

I tried that, and it really didn't seem to take a patina with the first coat. Took about 3 coats as memory serves me. Maybe it was the no-name brand of mustard....

If you coat the entire knife you won't get as much patina. Best way is to do either dots or lines. You will get a hard patina at the edges.

If you put too much on also, it won't patina as well.

It is a combo of the reaction of the mustard and the AIR reacting with the steel.

 

[never too sharp]

Gun blue then full strength bleach. BYA!

 

[culpritish]

If you coat the entire knife you won't get as much patina. Best way is to do either dots or lines. You will get a hard patina at the edges.

If you put too much on also, it won't patina as well.

It is a combo of the reaction of the mustard and the AIR reacting with the steel.

Wish I'd known that from the beginning! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Bigfattyt]

Wish I'd known that from the beginning! Thanks for the heads up!

Here is a really quick Patina I did a while ago with mustard.

here it is after a few more layers, and a quick polish. The etch is deep enough that even with a quick polish, you can still see the lines.

This was from leaving lines of mustard on for a little while.

If you leave it on for hours, it will actually etch into the metal and leave a wavy surface, almost like damascus.

I have seen makers actually make carbon steel look like true damascus, or other interesting "rain drop patterns"

You can make different patters. Just leave it on for less time, and it will be shallow enough to just buff off with buffing compound (stropping compound and a strop will do this fine).

When you make a pattern you like you can try again and make it deeper if you want.

 

[nc527]

One thing I have had alot of luck with, and what I do to all my psk style tin knives. Take a skillet, place blade in it, cover the blade with vinegar, usualy a small bottle will cover it. Then add 1 tbls salt and turn the stove on low-medium.
now take the blade out. Add the blade back when the salt is dissolved and the mix is hot. keep it in for about 5 minutes, and it produces a very uniform, grey patina. I love the look, almost like it was blued.

 

[somber]

I had some rust on my knife, I took a chemical called Clean Power to take out the rust which also got rid of the patina. I re-applied the patina with vinegar. I just let the knife sit in the vinegar/water solution for about seven to eight minutes.

The knife steel is Super Blue.

 

[jayinhk]

For the most even results, you want to get the blade as evenly polished as possible--the higher the grit, the better. I've found hot Sprite with a little detergent works wonders. I used Sprite to lightly patinate my kris balisong: