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What is with the obsession of patina on knives?
- Thread starter needler420
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EricV
Basic Member
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- Nov 19, 2008
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Yep. Making a fruit salad is another great option. Just let it sit for a while and dry out. Then rinse in soapy water to get the "sticky" out of the works.
It will happen. Get that nice "November sky" look to the blade.
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- Apr 29, 2011
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Wait. Wut?I'm not sure where to begin. If it was rsuted shut, how did you take it apart?
With a hammer and rubber mallet. Took a lot of labor invested into a cheap knife when the project is done I think the community will like it.
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- Mar 30, 2015
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For my first carbon chef I opted for a forced patina while looking for more intricate patina as I used the knife.
This is a Fujiwara carbon blade that I used mustard and saran wrap, I crumpled the saran wrap up, dabbed it in mustard and dabbed it on the knife. I feel like it turned out quite nice.
This is a Fujiwara carbon blade that I used mustard and saran wrap, I crumpled the saran wrap up, dabbed it in mustard and dabbed it on the knife. I feel like it turned out quite nice.
Mustard, vinegar, potato, ketchup, blood, salami, etc etc etc.
I figure just cut up some food you were going to eat any way. All this other stuff seems a waste of perfectly good condiments.
You know what, I'm not sure on hot bluing, as I'm unsure of how it differs from cold bluing.
Cold bluing I'm sure of, and while it had been spread around here for a while, one of the dealers here got curious and contacted the manufacturer for cold bluing, and was told most emphatically that it is NOT food safe. So that I feel confident in saying. At a random guess, I'd assume that hot bluing would have the same problem as cold bluing, but I'm not sure.
Here is his post in the thread about it.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ued-not-for-food-prep?p=14965520#post14965520
I'll do some more digging, but if anyone knows offhand that would be appreciated
.This is how I do it on my smaller blades. Work brings in apples a few times a week, and I use them as a snack, and it helps start/build up patinas on my opinels and peasants (my only carbon folders).
Bigger fixed blades I do a paper towel in vinegar, or wipe some mustard/something around the blade for a while, just because I want to start the patina relatively evenly covering the blade. And on some of the larger ones a single Apple wouldn't really cover it well.
Maybe I'd need a pumpkin for my BK9?
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kamagong
Gold Member
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- Jan 13, 2001
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As Paracelsus noted, "The dose makes the poison."
Unless you are drinking the bluing solution straight out of the bottle I don't think you have anything to worry about.
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Have fun! For a little more depth to the patina, rub the blade with a slice of strawberry for a minute, then another minute with a slice of the peach. Don't wipe/clean the blades untill the cutting is done.
So, I linked it in my previous post, but thought it would be better to quote part of it here.
Later on in the thread they talk about what exactly is harmful about bluing, and apparently it is the selenium in it, which can either cause chronic, or acute selenium poisoning, most likely due to how cold bluing wears off over time on things its rubbed against... and if that stuff is food that you're eating...
So yeah, drinking it would be really bad.
Anyway, I'm done with my PSA. To each his own, etc.
Carry on
."fancy patina" does seem to be a trend, like hammered flats, stonewashing, batoning, ...
I've read a lot of threads with people smearing mustard on blades in various patterns, things like that. Personally I kind of like a more uniform color.
You can force a patina and a patina will develop when you cut certain foods, but in my experience a patina will happen naturally if you don't do anything. I have some old knives that I probably never cut food with and they now have a patina. Likewise various tools in my garage that were never used on foods now have patina. In carbon steels I think they will eventually patina just from the atmosphere. Patina is supposed to be a deterrent to rust but again in my experience it is not much deterrent. I have a Bradley folder that is 2 years old and is still shiny and new looking. I don't know how long this will last, I would be happy if it never did patina.
I have mixed feelings about the gun blue discussions. I thought that patina was one of the forms of iron oxide in which case it should not be overly harmful. I don't know how selenium plays into this, whether it facilitates the formation of iron oxide or if somehow the selenium migrates into the surface of the steel and it forms the color. That would explain the potential danger, but I then wonder if the dosage would be enough to worry about.
This is an M4 blade with light patina:
There are a couple of older knives with natural patina in this photo:
And a Becker with some cold bluing:
I've read a lot of threads with people smearing mustard on blades in various patterns, things like that. Personally I kind of like a more uniform color.
You can force a patina and a patina will develop when you cut certain foods, but in my experience a patina will happen naturally if you don't do anything. I have some old knives that I probably never cut food with and they now have a patina. Likewise various tools in my garage that were never used on foods now have patina. In carbon steels I think they will eventually patina just from the atmosphere. Patina is supposed to be a deterrent to rust but again in my experience it is not much deterrent. I have a Bradley folder that is 2 years old and is still shiny and new looking. I don't know how long this will last, I would be happy if it never did patina.
I have mixed feelings about the gun blue discussions. I thought that patina was one of the forms of iron oxide in which case it should not be overly harmful. I don't know how selenium plays into this, whether it facilitates the formation of iron oxide or if somehow the selenium migrates into the surface of the steel and it forms the color. That would explain the potential danger, but I then wonder if the dosage would be enough to worry about.
This is an M4 blade with light patina:
There are a couple of older knives with natural patina in this photo:
And a Becker with some cold bluing:
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- Feb 28, 2007
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I originally felt the whole patina bit was stupid. Why remove perfectly good paint to "patina" something?
Then I did it.
It's kind of fun, and it makes the knife look totally unique. A very interesting process, I used the hot vinegar technique, but I did mustard patterns on the bk10 and stabbed the bk15 through a few oranges just to see what it was all about.
Then I did it.
It's kind of fun, and it makes the knife look totally unique. A very interesting process, I used the hot vinegar technique, but I did mustard patterns on the bk10 and stabbed the bk15 through a few oranges just to see what it was all about.
Well what I think about patina is... Never mind nobody cares what I think about patina. In the unlikely event you are interested in something related to me, I will be cooking some mushrooms in a cast iron skillet tonight to serve over a couple of steaks which will be grilled on a little Weber Smokey Joe grill. A lettuce and mixed vegetable salad dressed with a vinaigrette of ume plum vinegar, olive oil, agave nectar and a little Dijon mustard and cracked pepper. I sliced the vegetables with a 240 mm Konosuke gyuto. No I'm not divulging the type of steel. Will be having some Wild Horse Cab with the steaks.
Sorry to interrupt patina wars. Have a great weekend everyone.
Sorry to interrupt patina wars.
Have a great weekend everyone.So, I did some research (if you can call going to Wikipedia and reading about "cold bluing" much research
) last night because I had no idea how cold bluing worked. A patina IS a form of iron oxide, the non bad version (the red rust is bad, patina is not), and that is apparently at least one of the results of cold bluing. Selenium only plays into the mix because it is in the cold bluing "formula". Selenium dioxide is used in the cold bluing. Cold bluing is not known for protecting from rust as well, or for being as durable as hot bluing. So something about the Selenium dioxide that is causing the iron oxide to form, has to be semi-loosely attached to the steel to give it that color, and for the manufacturer to be so adamant that you shouldn't use it on anything that is used with food. That's really the only thing that makes any sense IMO.
But yeah, the dose required to be "bad" would be the last question. In the thread I linked, someone there said that it was 55 micrograms, but I didn't do any research to see if that was correct. But if that's true, that's a pretty small amount (micro, not mili).
Anyway, personally I'll not use any cold blued knives for food, and would suggest others do the same. But, of course, I only have control over what I do
(most of the time).Cheers
.This is the two-minute way to do it:
Get a jar or other glass container (Pyrex) tall enough to cover the entire blade.
Degrease the blade with Ronsonol (lighter fluid); let dry.
Microwave some white vinegar for 30 seconds to get it hot.
Pour into glass container.
Dunk the knife blade.
Keep a close watch on it; patinating begins almost immediately.
Remove when done to taste.
Rinse thoroughly under running water.
Wipe dry.