Forced patina?

Uncle Timbo

Uncle Timbo

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Nov 23, 2005
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Hey guys, I have a 4.1 stone washed 3V. Can I do a vinegar or mustard patina?
 
Others have tried and failed. Consensus is "no", but if you leave it long enough and reapply often, you might eventually get there.... which begs the question, why? It's pretty corrosion resistant already, trying to overcome that resistance to force a patina to improve corrosion resistance would be pretty silly ;). If it's the looks your after, I'd recommend a different steel.
 
Thank you. After seeing the one left on the window sill, I just thought I'd give mine a extra ounce of protection. That and I love the appearance.
 
3V is a carbon steel but is alloyed enough with a little chromium and vanadium to make it very resistant to corrosion as far as carbon steels go. I tried vinegar on 3V and it didnt do squat. I tried birchwood casey gun blueing on A2 and it barely worked, so I doubt it will do anything to 3V, but you could try.

Ferric chloride etching acid would probably do it though. I have seen S30V blades darkened with it and that is a very stainless steel
 
Thanks Riz. Will this blade ever patina on it's own? From use? I sure do love me a good patina.
 
I had a Bark River 3V blade that developed a slight iridescent blue to it, that you could only see at angle in lower light. I think it came from cutting a huge amount of strawberries for my kids.
 
So maybe if I cut up a bunch of lemons and made some lemonade? Is it too cold to set up a lemonade stand? :)

Really though, what would it hurt to cut up a lemon or lime and not wipe the blade down afterwards?
 
More aggressive natural forced would be mustard. Juice really isn't worth the squeeze, imho, at least with 3V. It is carbon steel, yet as stated above, the Chromium and Vanadium do the job for you, anything you add will really be subtracting here. I'm not totally convinced yet, but I feel the grain of the steel in the CPM process causes corrosion to look more spotty and random and less than you'd expect from carbon knives and their uniformity.

Of course it's "technically" doable, although not sure on how it'll look. Another thought is the SK-4 and soon to be others in S7 from Survive! Ferric acid should be able to force one after striping the coating on one of those, I'm thinking it might be similar to A2.
 
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Thanks B34NS. Maybe I'll make me a mustard sandwich and forget to wipe the blade down afterwards. :)

I mean, a little patina is better than no patina. At least it is to me. And the acid thing scares me. If it could backfire, it would to be.
 
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