Gun bluing for knives?

V

Veiled

Gold Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2023
Messages
79
I’m wanting to force a patina on my Benchmade Proper and gun bluing was recommended to me. Is it viable? And if it is, do I need to protect the pivot with nail polish like an acid etch?
 
I've tried it with sorta mixed results.

It will darken the blade though, but will wear off with use.
 
No can do, my friend. Looks like the Proper comes in S30v and S90v (Damasteel as well), both of which are stainless. Cold bluing won't do anything to the steel. What you need is acid and do an acid etch. This is what it would end up looking like, however you can alter it's appearance a bit depending on how long you leave it in the solution and what not. Others, with more experience on acid etching, can give you a better run down on the recipe and process.

Edit to add: You will have to give it a good resharpening afterward as the acid will breakdown your edge. The precious owner of my Sebenza, who did the etching, didn't want to resharpen it, so he put nail polish along the edge. However it's nearly impossible to get the coverage just right and you end up with the transition from edge to main bevel being a little uneven.
Sebenza 21c.jpg
 
LimpCroissant said:
No can do, my friend. Looks like the Proper comes in S30v and S90v (Damasteel as well), both of which are stainless. Cold bluing won't do anything to the steel. What you need is acid and do an acid etch. This is what it would end up looking like, however you can alter it's appearance a bit depending on how long you leave it in the solution and what not. Others, with more experience on acid etching, can give you a better run down on the recipe and process.

Edit to add: You will have to give it a good resharpening afterward as the acid will breakdown your edge. The precious owner of my Sebenza, who did the etching, didn't want to resharpen it, so he put nail polish along the edge. However it's nearly impossible to get the coverage just right and you end up with the transition from edge to main bevel being a little uneven.
View attachment 2356291
Click to expand...
Good catch. I did mine on 1095, and totally didn't even think about how it would not work on stainless.
 
MolokaiRider MolokaiRider Thanks, yea I bet the 1095 took a real nice blued finish!

I've blued a couple knives, and some guns. This little fella I keep next to my desk, it's just one of those knives you just really like for some reason, but not completely sure why. It took a very deep blued finish. I'm not sure what it's made of, some sort of mild carbon steel though. It's hard to get a good pic of blued steel without some good outdoor lighting, but here's a crappy indoor pic I just took, as that's what I got to work with at the moment.

Edit: Whoah.. Now I know why I like this little knife so much. Geneva Cutlery was produced from 1902-1935, and then was apparently bought by Case. It's an old little buddy. 🙂
My blued carbon steel fixed blade.jpg
 
Real bluing is not a great finish for guns, as far as durability, but is provides a beatiful, classic appearance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top