Gun blue and bleach etch?

Ben,

Try this (on a test piece first): Make sure the piece is as scratch free as possible and very, very clean.

I use one of those wool daubers that you can get from Tandy. Just randomly daub the cold blue on until the blade is covered. This will cause the blue to be thicker in places.

I use a plastic tub with enough Clorox in it to cover the blade. When the gun blue has dried, put it into the tub. Leave it around 30 seconds. The blade will instantly start to turn to rust and you will think you have ruined it. Pull it out and use a piece of #0000 steel wool and water to clean the rust off.

If you like the look, then oil it well. If not, go back to the blue and Clorox.

Here is a (not-so-good) pic of one I did a couple of years ago:

 

We use this method all the time to get that real aged patina on hawk/axe heads...The longer the etch the more drastic the appearance.. We sand to around 120-220 grit, clean the piece real well with degreaser then coat with cold bue...Then submerge in bleach...We leave ours in for 30min-1hour so any scratch marks from 120 grit and up are etched off and gone anyway.Clean up with a wire wheel..Though rememeber these are axe heads not knives..That long would be too drastic on thinner knives..
heres a couple of axes with a 1 hour etch..

 

Here's a blade I just finished up using pretty much the same method Robert mentioned except it was done in room temp Clorox. Hotter is certainly more aggressive. I'll go over the whole blade with steel wool for the first clean up and I may also do an etch while I'm at it. Different steels act different way so best to try a test piece. This blade is L-6.

 

Here is a link to a good thread. Many pics of knives done in a bleach gun blue or ferric chloride etch.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/824127-forced-pitting-heavy-patina

 

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I think your forge scale should stay cause the gun blue needs to be working on the steel for the bleach to effect it. Like I said earlier its best to do a test on scrap steel.