Your traditional knife transition into high carbon and patinas

SweptEdge

SweptEdge

Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Messages
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Hi there, I'm pretty new to the world of traditionals with my recent purchase of a medium Stockman. The only thing is, I have been looking at some of your high carbon blades, and I was wondering if a lot of you keep your cv blades Tuf-clothed, or do you just go with a patina from the start? The only down side I can guess is that a patina would lower the resale price, and maybe make fruit taste weird? I'm almost ready to purchase a Case Peanut and large Stockman in cv, and I'm hoping to hear from you all about your experiences with high carbon steel.:thumbup:

Thanks,

Chad
 
I thought I would notice a strange taste using a blade with patina, but I can't detect it. My best kitchen knives are two carbon steel Old Hickory knives. I have Carvel Hall, Spyderco, Tramontina, Victorinox etc, but the best are the el cheapo OH's.

For my using knives, I would freak out in the past if a speck appeared on the carbon/tool steel blades. Now, I don't force a patina that often, but let the blade acquire a patina naturally. Bushcraft blades and slipjoints just look better with a nice patina. I actually prefer it in a used knife too.
 
Blades that will be used occasionally I keep polished. True EDC blades I let patina. :)
 
I can smell the patina on my traditionals. It has a kind of a sharp metallic twang that I find pleasing. I cant say that it has influenced the taste of food I use it on though
 
silenthunterstudios said:
I thought I would notice a strange taste using a blade with patina, but I can't detect it. My best kitchen knives are two carbon steel Old Hickory knives. I have Carvel Hall, Spyderco, Tramontina, Victorinox etc, but the best are the el cheapo OH's.

For my using knives, I would freak out in the past if a speck appeared on the carbon/tool steel blades. Now, I don't force a patina that often, but let the blade acquire a patina naturally. Bushcraft blades and slipjoints just look better with a nice patina. I actually prefer it in a used knife too.
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Yeah, seeing something that looks like rust is odd. I think I'll start with Case before I go GEC

richstag said:
Blades that will be used occasionally I keep polished. True EDC blades I let patina. :)
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That sounds like a good idea, I had thought about Tuf-clothing the cv blades, then if I had them long enough for the coating to wear off, maybe it would leave a patina then.

akadave2 said:
I can smell the patina on my traditionals. It has a kind of a sharp metallic twang that I find pleasing. I cant say that it has influenced the taste of food I use it on though
Click to expand...

Ooh, there was another thread over in tinkering and embellishment that had some guys talking about it. I don't think that the smell will bother me either.

Thanks for your comments
 
Pretty much all of the knives I use eventually get a patina. When you're not cutting fruit it's actually quite easy to keep them shiny (even without oil/tuf-cloth).
The blades definitely taste metallic when cutting acidic things, especially when the patina starts, but the smell doesn't stick to the fruit very much. I sometimes think I can taste it, but it's difficult to tell if it's really the fruit or just the smell of the knife on the table. Others I've peeled kiwi's for etc said they couldn't taste anything...
 
I use every knife I buy, and I don't buy with resale in mind, so I don't worry about it. Patinas tell a story.
 
Wouldn't get too excited about patinas one way or the other. I know you are new too this so I will impart this bit of savvy I picked up over the years: A patina is not a finished product, it is a constantly changing and evolving process.

IOW you can have the spiffiest looking hot vinegar patina in town. You take that knife and use it to whittle some fire starter off a stick of red oak kindling and you will literally scrape the patina right off. You can take an old Uncle Henry that pop used with that ultracool light gray patina and use it to carve up some apples at lunch and you have a mottled and uneven patina very quickly. Carry that same knife for a few weeks and where the blade meets the cloth of the pocket it will return to that light gray you started out with. Patinas come and go. They reflect what the knife has been into. Don't get too excited about how a patina looks on an EDC that is used a lot. It is going to change on you as time goes by.

As far as tuf cloth and all that kind of stuff? Not for me anyway, I don't judge what is right for others. A new knife gets some fruit work at first to get the patina started and then I just let it go. The joints get an occasional oiling. That's pretty much it.

Good luck,
Will
 
I want buy an old or used knife unless it has a patina!(unless it's a custom..lol) I dig'em that way. Patina doesn't
change the taste of fruits or anything else you cut. Use mineral oil that helps as well....

Jason
 
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I think patina lessens the taste of carbon steel, not increases it.

I don't worry about resale value of my knives.
 
I just let the patina develop. Dry the blade when you put it away. My grandfather's old carbon steel folders lasted for decades, and yours will too, with minimal care.
 
I put a light forced patina on my Douk-Douk which I carry every day. At first it got scraped off on everything I used it for, but then as it saw some use, a more permanent patina formed (and the taste went away). Didn't take too long either really. It does change everytime I use it, so I don't care if it gets some weird camo like patina or something once in a while, but from what I've seen and read, the patina acts as a protective cover, shielding the more reactive steel against light moisture and humid weather. As long as you dry it off after use it'll be fine :)
 
Like many have said, there's nothing wrong with patina. It's just a matter of personal taste. If you decide against it, Tuf-Cloth is a very efficient way to prevent any tarnish on your knives. If you use it, make sure you apply it to all the surfaces that may tarnish. And use some Tuf-Glide in the pivot area, where the cloth doesn't reach.
 
The patina itself isn't what makes food taste bad. It's the steel, and the chemical oxidation reaction taking place with the food that does it. In fact, the reaction is always strongest and produces the most noticeable change in 'character' of the food, during the very first interaction between the two (blade + food), when the blade has no appreciable patina on it. The patina is a by-product of that reaction, as is the change in food's taste/smell. They occur simultaneously, as ions are exchanged between the steel and the food, altering the physical properties of each (steel oxidizes and darkens/rusts, and the food's taste/smell is changed). As carbon steel becomes more oxidized over time (more patina), the reaction won't be quite as strong because there's not as much 'clean' unoxidized steel for food acids to react with, and it therefore won't produce the same degree of taste/smell alteration. Trying to minimize or remove existing patina, to hopefully eliminate the offending taste/smell, only prolongs the problem, as the clean steel will keep on reacting more strongly to food acids, every time it's exposed. A developed patina is what slows the reaction upon later exposures, and that will reduce the offending effects on the food.

Let the steel patina for a while first, and THEN applying some kind of food-safe coating might help downplay the taste/smell effects. With carbon steel, there will always be some reaction going on, so the issue can never be eliminated completely. Only way to do that, is to use a stainless blade.


David
 
I like CV steel but I don't particularly like a patina on my blades. I try to keep them dry and wiped down after use, with a little WD-40 silicone spray as a protectant. There are probably better products but I happen to already own the WD-40 and it seems to work.

I'm not concerned about resale, I just don't like my knives to look like I don't take care of them. Personal preference. If you like the look of a patina that's cool too, just not my thing.

Since I'm not using my CV steel blades for food prep the whole smell/taste question is a moot point for me.
 
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