Forced Patina vs Bluing vs Parkerizing for a CS Pipe Hawk

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theTman1221

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Aug 14, 2014
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First of all I would like to say that I've done a lot of searching and all I ever come up with is the massive 118 page thread about modding the trail hawk, and other people asking about finishes that just get told to read that massive thread. I do not have the time to read 118 pages to get the info I need. I figure condensing the info into a smaller thread will be better than a lot of bits of info spread across 118 pages for many other people looking for the same info.


My girlfriend bought me a Cold Steel Pipe Hawk and I love it. Right away I nearly every throw with the thing. It's just a natural match to me it seems. I however didn't like the crappy paint and how it wore off in spots quick. I stripped the head, but now want to finish it.

My goal in finishing the head is to prevent rust when combined with a reasonable amount of oil coating (read as: not going to make an oil mess on me or things that touch it) and also I want it to look nice.


I will say right now that I do not have a sand blaster so no fancy sand blasted finish. The best I have is sandpaper, sanding sponges, and a dremel tool. I don't have a budget for a bunch of new power tools so buying new power tools is not an option.

The 2 most common finishes I hear about are bluing and forced patina, but I also heard about something called "parkerizing" which may or may not be within my capability. I don't know much about it.

Some people claim that bluing makes metal rust even faster, while some claim that isn't the case if you do it right. Does bluing help prevent rusting when combined with keeping it oiled? Does it make it more prone to rust? How does it compare to a forced patina in terms of durability and rust resistance?

Forced Patina seems to be quite popular on here, but the most common one (boiling in white vinegar) seems to produce a dull light gray color that I don't like at all. I saw something about getting a dark gun blue like finish by sticking a knife in a potato, but you can't do that with a hawk head. What can be used for a darker patina that will resist rust and be decently durable?

The third finish I read a bit about in that 118 page thread was something called "parkerizing" I don't know much about it, but it was being claimed to be the best option, but it also sounded like it required a sand blasted surface, and might be beyond my capabilities. What is parkerizing? How does it compare to Bluing and Forced Patina in rust resistance and durability? What does applying this to a hawk head entail?


Well, that about sums up my questions about this stuff. I hope I get some good responses and not snide remarks about how I should read that 118 page thread.
 
Parkerizing is the preferred finish of many military weapons over bluing. It involves submerging in a heated acid solution ,adding a manganese phosphate coating to the steel. The need for a sand blaster and totally oil free is to help the acid etch evenly. I have used home Parkerizing solutions and you can get away with a sanded finish sometimes. As with all finishes the end result is all about the prep. The bead/ sand blast also serves as to hold oil better. Here is a picture of two trail hawks I re- forged before the spike hawk was available. One is plain the other is parkerized.
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I talked to the gunsmith at the sporting goods store I work at and he said from his experience bluing does promote rusting, but also you can always just re-blue to clean it up. That doesn't sound so good for me, and I live in Minnesota where we have a lot of muggy weather in the summer months.

I guess it's down to parkerizing or forced patina. Is there any sort of forced patina that can give me a dark grey, dark grey/ blueish, or blackish/blueish color to this kind of steel?

On another note, I am fine with spending a fair amount of time cleaning up my hawk's head. I got a 100 grit and 320 grit 3M thin, reusable spongy sanding pads to help polish it up, and maybe even use the 320 as a strop of sorts. I also have 400 grit paper if I really need it, and can get 600 grit paper if necessary. I also picked up fine, medium, and coarse steel wool in a combo pack, some oil based dark mahogany old fashioned (not mixed with poly) stain and some outdoor grade polyurethane spar varnish to put a protective coating over the handle afterward. I'll go light on the varnish so the head still fits well.
 
I'll tell you what I've done done on many blades and this has always worked best for me. Weather you finish the head fine or medium sanding doesn't really matter. First wipe it clean with alcohol to remove any oil. Next heat the axe head with hot water or heat gun. get it nice and warm/hot. Paste a liberal amount of yellow mustard over the entire head. Now, how long you leave it on depends on how dark you want it. A few hours will likely give you a pretty decent patina. If you want it darker simply re-apply. Then when you clean off the mustard, apply a coating of cold blue (gun blue). This will add some real nice blueish hues in with the mustard patina. When you get it just the way you want it, wash the head and apply any good paste wax. This will give it a nice satin sheen,protect it, and also make the colors in the patina more vivid. I tried about every kind of forced patina known and this gives the best results. Good luck with your project. RP
 
Never done a forced patina, but I have done a lot of cold bluing. Not all bluing solutions are created equal, the Birchwood Casey that you find at the big box stores barely works, Oxpho-Blue from Brownells is very good, I prefer the cream version.
 
Do you have any pictures of blades finished with this method? Does the type of yellow mustard matter much? Any brand particularly good? Can boiling in white vinegar for a long enough time apply a dark coating?
 
Sorry I can't post pic's. Any regular yellow mustard will work fine. Hot or boiling vinegar will certainly darken but you will get a greyish very even patina. I never really cared for it as far as looks. If you don't like the mustard/blue effect, you can easily polish out and start over.
 
LOL! I want an even patina. I'm not a fan of splotchy random finishes. I want it to be 1 solid color if possible. I read somewhere about just boiling a hawk head in plain water causing black oxide to form a nice dark patina. Does that actually work? Is it better or worse than vinegar?


Edit: I did some digging myself and it seems that how dark a patina you get from a vinegar bath all depends on how long you treat it. I guess I was just seeing the results of people doing quick treatments for a light gray color back when I was first looking around. I'm finding some examples of nice darker grays people got by boiling the steel longer.

Now the question is: Apple Cider Vinegar vs White Vinegar. Is there a difference between how a patina looks from one compared to the other, and does one work better or quicker than the other?

Also, what kind of oil can I wipe the head down with that won't be messy and have me avoiding touching the head to prevent spreading oil to other things?
 
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Well, after some more digging I managed to find out that apple cider produces a darker patina faster than white vinegar. I still need to figure out what to oil the head with in the end.

Also, I am finding it fairly hard to sand the pits and stuff from forging off of the head's surface. I might end up using a small fine metal file I got in a 3 file pack I bought so I could have a small round file for working on the hawk's eye. It might do the trick. I had been using a 100 grit thin sanding sponge like thing that is supposed to be able to be rinsed and re-used. I had to blunt the head's edge a bit to stop it from tearing the sanding pads apart. I think I'm going to pay someone to put a nice convex grind on the head after I patina it, so no big deal. Also, I only just took the fine edge off. I did not flatten it.
 
I use mineral oil on all my carbon steel tools and it has never once let me down. Oh and unlike some other oils its food safe.
 
I've had the best results with apple cider vinegar with a little salt added to it. Heat it up and apply to the metal. Let it dry, rub it with a clean cloth, and repeat.

A1 steak sauce will turn carbon steel nice & dark too.
 
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