White vinegar patina

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beckerhead75

Joined
Nov 30, 2013
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I want to strip my bk7 and give it a patina, but without the blotchiness. So, would distilled white vinegar work, and if so, how long do i keep it on the blade. Should i put it in a paper towel soaked with vinegar, or just submerge it?
 
I got some stuff at a rod iron/welder distribution store it is patina in a bottle, they had different colors and metals too
 
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Just mixed cider vinegar, mustard and some left over dill pickle juice together in no particular measuring technique - just "guess and bless" and blotted it on blade with paper towel and in a few minutes wiped it clean. This is just what I experimented with and it seems not to matter with which type of vinegar or my unscientific approach. One thing though: this acid bath blotting took extremely well to the SuperBlue steel cutting edge you see laminated to 420j steel on my Endura 4, but did nothing to the 420j. Maybe would have if I would have left it on longer or reapplied. I very much like that only the SB took the patina.
I would apply with paper towel method and then move to soaking longer...safer to more risky method. I know there are patina experts out there who will chime in with everything you will need to know. I'm just saying, for me it's fun to play around and see what happens.
 
These were loosely wrapped in a spiral fashion with a slightly twisted paper towel soaked in white vinegar for about 30 minutes.

I like the random pattern it produces.

After I removed the paper towel I let it sit for another 15 minutes to get some air. I think this is when a lot of the deeper patina developed. As it dried out I could almost see it etching into the steel.

For the tang, I blotted a few drops of vinegar on it and spread it around and let it sit.

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Clean the blade with rubbing alcohol first. I used apple ciudad vinegar heated in a glass in the microwave. Then dunk the blade in there. Try to measure it so the handle stays out of it. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and then reheat the vinegar. Repeat. I did my Mora like this for about an hour. On the last time, immediately rinse it. I used a blow dryer to dry everything and then I rubbed mineral oil on it. A light polish with silver polish will lighten the color a little but it cleans a little bit of the "soot" off.
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Heating the vinegar will give a darker appearance as shown above.

I typically do a paper towel wrap.

Often I will take a q tip and heated vinegar and repeatedly rub and rub again and again. You can get a very dark even etch like this (assuming you have a clean blade to start with.
 
I think what I'm going to do is remove the handles, strip it, clean it with rubbing alcohol, soak a paper towel with white vinegar and wrap it around the blade. Just don't know how long to keep it on there?
 
I've used whit vinegar on various steels. Clean the blade extremely well.
I submerge the whole thing, for hours(over night). Taking it out & rubbing with a clean paper towel will help get it even. Stir the vinegar.
My blades turn out medium darkness, but pretty even.

I use a tall glass, to suit the blade size. Try to find a tall skinny vessel your BK7 will fit in. Getting an even finish is about giving each part of the surface equal access to the acid, IMO.
 
I have some old glasses, I keep for this, and place the knife blade in the glass, until the blade is submerged, my glasses are glass, and I put some paper towel on the tip to prevent blunting. Aside from that I just sit and wait a couple of hours, and check for rust. Usually I stop a bit short of covering the entire blade, seeing as the patina sort of "crawls". Meh I'm terrible at instructions, trial and error is your best teacher.
 
I kind of want a light stonewashed look, so maybe like an hour or so? Also if I mess up can I remove the patina or will have to naturally be removed ?
 
Patina will occur naturally, so it won't disappear naturally. The patina is also quite hard wearing, so if you want to remove it, you have to do it on purpose. Wet & Dry paper, or if it is a flat grind you can use a flat stone. You could probably buff it off, I haven't done that.
So, if you stuff up, it can be removed without too much effort.

For a stonewash, maybe try dabbing vinegar on with a paint brush. It will take a while, & many applications. i.e. an incomplete coverage of tiny drops.
 
Try PBC etchant/ferric chloride. You can get it at Radio shack. I'm not sure of the ratios at the moment, but dilute it with some water. It makes a really nice and even dark grey finish in less time than the vinegar. I let mine go for a few hours, but it will get light grey almost immediately. If you want your blade to turn out almost black, put some cold blue on top of the ferric job. Use some renaissance wax or bees wax (I just now used burts bees chap stick in a pinch today) to give the patina a bit more sheen.
 
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