Grapefruit Patina and Micarta Dye Job

threatx3

threatx3

Joined
Dec 30, 2010
Messages
414
I have to start this by giving credit to RJ79 for the idea. When he posted the HEST with the grapefruit patina, I had to give it a try. This post is my attempt at duplicating his patina. I don't think my job is near as cool as his but I was pleased with the result. First is a link to his post

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=816766

Now for the pics of my job. Total time spent working on this job was around 30 minutes not counting the time to let it sit.

BEFORE SHOTS OF MY RC-4.
P2.JPG

P3.JPG


Working off the old patina with steel wool. Not much effort to this.
P4.JPG


Compressing the ESEE Grapefruit sandwich. Notice the Micarta slabs drying out from the Black RIT job.
P5.JPG


Completed Project
DSC_0007.JPG

DSC_0008.JPG


Glamor Shot next to my Sig-229
DSC_0002.JPG
 
looks good, and dark how long did you let it sit for that?

I have been wanting to do the dye job also, does anyone know if the dye leaches out on your hands when you use it?
 
I let it sit compressed under about 10 lbs of weight for about 4 hours. When I took it out, some of the blade must not have been contacting the grapefruit because it didn't take a patina. I repositioned the blade and added some weight for another 3 hours.

If I did it again, I would use more weight and let it sit just a little longer.

I can't say if the dye bleeds on your hands with work. This was my first dye job.
 
Looking at the grapefruit pic again, I think if you cut the pieces like this l l it would cover better. I really like the black handles.

Can't wait for the coating to wear off my Izulla II to try it, but I just got it today:)
 
Nice job! I have a full tutorial with pics on a 6 and a swamprat swamp warden to post when I get time. Did you see the pics of my 4 in my thread?

Sometimes you have to fill in gaps with grapefruit pulp to make it more even, also try to make the slices the exact same thickness. The cool thing is just re steel wool it and try again if you dont like the pattern. I promiss I will get the tutorial up this weekend.
 
rapidfire77 said:
Looking at the grapefruit pic again, I think if you cut the pieces like this l l it would cover better. I really like the black handles.

Can't wait for the coating to wear off my Izulla II to try it, but I just got it today:)
Click to expand...


That is exactly how i make my slices like this l l, i will show it in the tutorial. I find that 30 pounds of weight makes great contact and leaves a really good pattern.
 
RJ79 said:
Nice job! I have a full tutorial with pics on a 6 and a swamprat swamp warden to post when I get time. Did you see the pics of my 4 in my thread?

Sometimes you have to fill in gaps with grapefruit pulp to make it more even, also try to make the slices the exact same thickness. The cool thing is just re steel wool it and try again if you dont like the pattern. I promiss I will get the tutorial up this weekend.
Click to expand...

I saw your 4 and that's what got me motivated to give it a try. I will redo the patina and try slicing the grapefruit the way you describe. It's really a low effort project and the results are pretty cool. I think it has a Damascus steel look to it. I will definitely use more weight the next time I force a patina this way. I could dust off my bowflex weights and use them for something good.
 
RJ79 said:
That is exactly how i make my slices like this l l, i will show it in the tutorial. I find that 30 pounds of weight makes great contact and leaves a really good pattern.
Click to expand...

I'm a bit slow, sorry. What exactly does slices like this l l mean?
 
Pretty cool, man!

I just tried forcing a patina for the first time on a stripped Becker Necker the other day. Used vinegar, mustard and tangerines in series until it looked how I wanted it to. Now it's a funky mottled mess, but I like it.

I think the coolest part is that the patina is rust resistant.

The second coolest part is that with a little elbow grease you can "reset" and try again.
 
Smebbin said:
I'm a bit slow, sorry. What exactly does slices like this l l mean?
Click to expand...

Instead of the slices being round O , you cut a slice off each end to make it look like this l l . so the grapefruit has more contact with the blade when they are butted up to each other so the peel isn't between them.
 
rapidfire77 said:
Instead of the slices being round O , you cut a slice off each end to make it look like this l l . so the grapefruit has more contact with the blade when they are butted up to each other so the peel isn't between them.
Click to expand...
You could always just stab a whole grapefruit with the knife and then leave it there. Then you could get out some excess aggression while you're at it!
 
awesome job..

I did the same thing a while back to a bk2 the grapefruit was really old and didn't have as much juice, but I think it came out OK enough for now, I'll leave it in the rain or at the bottom of the sink for a while and see what happens...:D

IMG_2280.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top