Blade Finish

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loganman
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Blade Finish

Post by loganman »

When I was a kid my grandmother gave me her pocket knife made by "Kent". The blade had an attractive Damascus type finish and I asked her about the knife and she said the finish was achieved by sticking the blade in a raw baking potato for about four or five days. It sounded crazy but after trying it I got the same finish. I've done this on several other knives with good results.
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orvet
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Re: Blade Finish

Post by orvet »

Custom knife maker & author Wayne Goddard tells how to get a similar effect with carbon steel by using mustard and rubbing it on the blade.
There is more to it than that, but mustard is the prime ingredient.
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wizrd
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Re: Blade Finish

Post by wizrd »

I just tried this potato treatment on an inexpensive Mora carbon steel blade, - I have this thing where I like to fool around with the carbon steel blades - and try and 'force' an aged patina. The blade was left in the potato overnight, - about 16 hours total - it came out with a very nice fairly even toned patina. Much quicker than the prescribed Wayne Goddard mustard finish. That one may take several different treatment session to achieve the results you want. The mustard treatment specifies to dab on little dots of mustard, leave for several hours, wash, rinse & repeat. If your not happy with your resluts, a nylon kitchen scrubby and some dawn dish soap can remove the darkened patina, and you can start over. Vinegar is an acid, and can also be used with some good results. Try a regular paper towel, sprinkled lightly with vinegar - a lot of them are embossed with a textural design, which will transfer to the knife blade steel. Set paper towel on blade surface, then gently dampen with vinegar, let set 6 or 7 hours. The one I tried left a very fine octagonal 'fish net' effect on the blades, very neat looking and attractive. I did this once on an old SC505 Schrade stockman, and had several friends convinced it was a 'custom order damascus' blade from their custom shop, - ( I am given to lying once in a while). I imagine ketchup & hot sauce would also work, haven't experimented with them yet, but the tomato & vinegar acids should work just fine.
eveled
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Re: Blade Finish

Post by eveled »

I used a large onion with interesting results. Got lucky the onion had a double center!
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eveled
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Re: Blade Finish

Post by eveled »

The other side.
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americanedgetech
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Re: Blade Finish

Post by americanedgetech »

I've heard a bunch of methods that work, and the bottom line is any acid or base will work to "tarnish" carbon steel. Even Stainless can be patina-d.

It might be interesting to try things like lace, pantyhose, bubble wrap, saran wrap... These are materials, and methods used in paint textures, and I see no reason they would not work for forced patinas.
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wizrd
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Re: Blade Finish

Post by wizrd »

Mora blade after the potato treatment.
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Re: Blade Finish

Post by jerryd6818 »

Slice up some Rhubarb.
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