antiquing a blade and brass

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wwpete52

Joined
Dec 5, 2008
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Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum and I know very little about knife making. I have made a few primitive knives out of old butcher knives but nothing to write home about.
I have a couple of "help me" questions.
I have one of those cheap primitive "Musso" style bowie knifes. I am wanting to "antique" the blade and brass parts. I have some muriatic acid and I have ordered a pint of the Stainless Steel Blackener 370 from Caswell Inc. I really want to make the blade and brass parts look old. It is a stainless steel blade. What would you guys suggest? Do you think I am on the right track with the chemicals I have? Thanks for your help.
 
Stainless will never look like old carbon steel.
 
You wouldn't believe the things I use WD 40 for in the knife shop!
The Caswell blackening solution may darken the blade, but let me pose a question-
You have a "bowie knife." When "bowie knives" were new, they looked new. If it were kept in good condition, it still would look new. Why would you want to make your knife look like an old knife that wasn't cared for, instead of wanting it to look like it is in good condition? It's already in good condition, and you want to make it look worse-makes no sense, unless you want to pass it off as "old." To any knowledgeable collector, things that are old don't have to be in bad condition.
BTW- you could just spray paint the blade with flat black paint.
 
Well, a Bowie knife in 1840 would not look like a polished stainless steel knife. Right? I am a reenactor. I would like my knife to look like it would have back then. A hand forged blade in 1840 would look much different than a polished stainless steel knife.
I really don't want it to look black. I want it to look like it has a patina finish.
 
In 1840, new knives looked new-not "patinaed." I know it goes against common thinking, but knifemakers in 1840 polished their knives. Polished stainless will look closer to polished carbon steel. Colt handguns were finely finished and blued shiny. Because something is old does not mean it is crude. This is a common misconception in the reenactor crowd.
You can buy a carbon steel knife similar to yours from Atlanta cutlery. Buy one and take it out in your back yard and pee on it. Leave it there for a couple of weeks. Wire wheel the rust off of it, and it should look exactly like you want.
 
True, but if a person in 1840 had a knife that he had carried and used for 20 years it would show some signs of use and patina.
 
Then see the second paragraph of my post, above.
I doubt you will make a stainless blade look like you want.
 
Another way of patinating carbon steel is to smear ketchup or granular mustard on the blade. It acid etches the piece but gives it the nicely mottled appearance that many antiques develop.
 
This is a knife, like the one I have, that a fellow "antiqued." He wouldn't share with me how he did it (he said that it was a secret).
antiquedbowie.jpg
 
ok, I finished the knife. I used muriatic acid and stainless steel blackener 370 on the blade. I got the effect I was looking for. I also altered the handle by staining it darker and adding a pommel. I also added the "Texas" star on the guard in several places.
replicabowie.jpg

replicabowieblade.jpg

replicabowiehandle.jpg
 
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hey there! I also have one of these bowies and I antiqued it a few years back. I was wondering how you did the pommel. any help would be be great, Thanks!
 
I bought a couple of oval curved pommels on ebay for around $4 each. I used my dremel to flatten the end of the handle. I placed the pommel on the end of the handle and marked the spot through the hole in the pommel. I used a round head brass screw to secure the pommel (I did put a small amount of wood glue in the hole first). I then ground the head slot off of the screw with my dremel. I then used my dremel to remove some of the brass off of the pommel so it didn't lap over the handle. That's it. By the way, I had no idea what I was doing but it turned out nice.
 
I use mustard that I daub on with my finger and leave it on for awhile, then I might daub on some cold blueing. If you want to antique the brass like I do, you can use some burt blackpowder residue works great. Must be the sulfur. There is some acid used to blacken silver that I have that might work. Liver of sulphur I think it's called. Will rust anything around it. Dangerous to use if you are not careful, use it outside, you don't want to inhale the vapors.
 
Here is My Primitive style Bowie from atlanta cutlery... Got it out the other day and sharpened it up. helluva Knife =D

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