All About Pocket Knives

Experiments in Patinas.... Hienz 57, Spicy Mustard, White vinegar .... etc...etc...

And more; Experiments in Patinas.... PeanutButter, Lemon juice, Hienz 57, Spicy Mustard, White vinegar .... etc...etc...

The experiments are great but with no labels on the photos or interpretations of the results I'm lost. How long was the blade exposed? Was the blade cleaned between exposures or am I seeing cumulative effects? What worked best in your opinion? What hardly worked at all? Was anything too aggressive and caused pitting? Some explanation and analysis is needed.

Dennis

GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2024 4:35 am Experiments in Patinas....

All of this has been gone through in previous posts.
I haven't bothered to research where.

I was a little lost on the OP. I have found diluting mustard with
a small amount of lemon juice works well. I leave it set for a small
amount of time ( 5-7 min.), wash it off, then reapply until I get
the patina I like. This composition allows me to apply the acid
exactly where I want it. I am not making designs. Sometimes
I leave the tang area alone. (Applying a patina to the tang sometimes
makes reading it very difficult.)

I suspect the best method to use is very subjective. The reaction should
be the same. You are using an acid to make a reaction to the ferrous oxide
in the steel. Using different acids might color your steel differently tho.

Bob

deo-pa wrote: ↑Mon Apr 01, 2024 12:03 pm The experiments are great but with no labels on the photos or interpretations of the results I'm lost. How long was the blade exposed? Was the blade cleaned between exposures or am I seeing cumulative effects? What worked best in your opinion? What hardly worked at all? Was anything too aggressive and caused pitting? Some explanation and analysis is needed.

Dennis

I found that to make a pattern I needed to put peanut butter where I did not want a reaction with the metal. So, to make wavy lines I would apply peanut butter on the blade edges and down the center. the peanut butter also holds the Mustard/acid on the blade and keeps it from running off. I then mix some white vinegar with mustard or ketchup and apply it to the bare metal. Just white vinegar alone seemed too aggressive and sometimes has darkened the metal more than I wanted, as did leaving the mixture on too long. I have not had a problem with any pitting so far.

I let it sit all day and overnight and that turned out to make too dark a stain for what I wanted. At that point I did clean the blade on a wire wheel to take off some of the dark patina. I think 2-4 hours might have been better. Where the metal was untouched on the double-edged dagger (by being covered with the peanut butter), I wanted to add some color, so I applied a paper towel soaked in lemon juice and left it on the metal for about an hour, to give it a lighter patina. It also left a sort of spotted pattern you can see in the pictures.

The main point I learned is that different mixes of staining liquids combined with different amounts of time the metal is exposed with the acids, make a more colorful patina, which is what I was trying to achieve... a mixture of light and dark patinas.

I like the effect of the wavy lines upon the blades. It is sort of a faux damascus!

Reverand wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 1:47 am I like the effect of the wavy lines upon the blades. It is sort of a faux Damascus!

I see as the "poor man's Damascus" .... that ''Poor man" specifically being me .....

Dennis
[/quote]

I found that to make a pattern I needed to put peanut butter where I did not want a reaction with the metal. So, to make wavy lines I would apply peanut butter on the blade edges and down the center. the peanut butter also holds the Mustard/acid on the blade and keeps it from running off. I then mix some white vinegar with mustard or ketchup and apply it to the bare metal. Just white vinegar alone seemed too aggressive and sometimes has darkened the metal more than I wanted, as did leaving the mixture on too long. I have not had a problem with any pitting so far.

I let it sit all day and overnight and that turned out to make too dark a stain for what I wanted. At that point I did clean the blade on a wire wheel to take off some of the dark patina. I think 2-4 hours might have been better. Where the metal was untouched on the double-edged dagger (by being covered with the peanut butter), I wanted to add some color, so I applied a paper towel soaked in lemon juice and left it on the metal for about an hour, to give it a lighter patina. It also left a sort of spotted pattern you can see in the pictures.

The main point I learned is that different mixes of staining liquids combined with different amounts of time the metal is exposed with the acids, make a more colorful patina, which is what I was trying to achieve... a mixture of light and dark patinas.
[/quote]

Good to read the experiments and results. I appreciate the info and pics and I like your results. Great stuff. I have used mustard and lemon juice for a base coat. It starts protecting the steel immediately and starts the coloration. I like it. Good post.

I like sticking small blades into large onions. Leave in a day or 2. This onion had a double center. It gives you the same pattern on both sides. Giving the allusion it goes all the way through

I use cutting and skinning a deer for my pantina OR eating an apple

Thanks I-Man There is always something to learn, .... I found out that soaking a paper towel with a texture to it in lemon juice will produce that "mesh" pattern you can see on the dagger's blade. That was the second application of an acid, after the ketchup and vinegar was applied and removed.

garddogg56 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:24 pm I use cutting and skinning a deer for my pantina OR eating an apple

That make sense.... ....work smarter... not harder!

eveled wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:28 am I like sticking small blades into large onions. Leave in a day or 2. This onion had a double center. It gives you the same pattern on both sides. Giving the allusion it goes all the way through

IMG_20171127_185635070-2624x1968.jpeg

That turned out nice!

GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:38 pm

garddogg56 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:24 pm I use cutting and skinning a deer for my pantina OR eating an apple

That make sense.... ....work smarter... not harder!

I do like the pattern design that your method leaves

garddogg56 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:24 pm I use cutting and skinning a deer for my pantina OR eating an apple

I have found that cutting red meat works as good or better than anything except actual aged patina.

garddogg56 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 03, 2024 11:42 pm

GSPTOPDOG wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:38 pm

garddogg56 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 11:24 pm I use cutting and skinning a deer for my pantina OR eating an apple

I do like the pattern design that your method leaves

Thanks G.D. I think I am going to try the meat cutting tip and see how that patina turns out...

My Dad would rub the juices all over the blade of his chef’s knife then clean the blade off. Otherwise you only get patina on the area that did the cutting. He also did the same to the cutting board.

My Great Grandmother would rub a cut potato on a new knife when she finished cutting potatoes.

They really didn’t think in terms of patina it was seasoning the blade, similar to seasoning a cast iron pan.

eveled wrote: ↑Fri Apr 05, 2024 12:37 am My Great Grandmother would rub a cut potato on a new knife when she finished cutting potatoes.

They really didn’t think in terms of patina it was seasoning the blade, similar to seasoning a cast iron pan.

Thanks! Very interesting...

This was my first patina experiment. I used white vinegar as the acid and nail polish to block the areas I wanted unblemished. The paw was a cut-out of a tracing of my dog's footprint and then reduced in size on a copy machine. It was then copied onto copy on a paper with a sticky backing, then cutout and stuck to the blade to prevent the vinegar from reacting with the metal. So, after all that, I ended up with a very crisp outline of my dog's paw on the knife blade.

That came out nice! I like the paw.

eveled wrote: ↑Sun Apr 07, 2024 2:29 pm That came out nice! I like the paw.

Thanks! I always liked that it was a copy of my dog's actual paw shrunk down to fit and then came relatively sharp looking (in contrast).

very interesting thread. I may give it a try. I assume it doesn't work on stainless?

Ferrous metals such as carbon steel knives can be blued to varying degrees from light blue to almost black by packing in fresh cut oak sawdust. Any brass fittings or embellishments if polished will turn a literal rainbow of colors. Sap content and exposure time will determine the degree of color. When you cut timber for a living it's unavoidable,what ever you have in your pockets is getting the treatment.,Zippo lighters,pocket knives,files,keys...

1OldTreeClimber wrote: ↑Fri Apr 19, 2024 1:38 am Ferrous metals such as carbon steel knives can be blued to varying degrees from light blue to almost black by packing in fresh cut oak sawdust.

That is an interesting bit of information, thanks!

RedRaiderRick wrote: ↑Thu Apr 18, 2024 9:07 pm very interesting thread. I may give it a try. I assume it doesn't work on stainless?

I have tried to put a patina on stainless without success. I think you could expose it long enough and cause the blade to rust.... But on my attempts at soaking for a few hours or a day or two, the stainless held out against any patina.