Intentional ( not forced ) patina ?

Hickory n steel said:
I'd love to get there with my new 6208 and or my 62032 and I expect I will, but I do have other knives so they may not look this well loved as your stockman there in 30 years.
I'm really wondering how the white smooth bone will look.
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It took a lot to get it out of my daily rotation, its still there for lighter duties. The 43 has become my daily for most things but who knows what will happen with the 23 being added in to the mix. I think at some point I will recover the stockman, the horn is chipped and the sheild has long since disappeared.
 
I gotta say, to me the idea of creating a patina on a blade is odd, be it forced, intentional or lugubrious. Compare the uniform gray color of a potato forced patina to a knife that's just been used every day for twenty years and occasionally wiped off:

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If the goal is to simply make a blade gray, then okay. If the goal is to make a blade look old or used, well then the difference is clear.
 
dsutton24 said:
If the goal is to simply make a blade gray, then okay. If the goal is to make a blade look old or used, well then the difference is clear.
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For me the idea is that a patina covered blade looks much better than a new looking shiny one as well as helping with regards to rust, so I like to get patina asap.
Since I like to watch it progress however I don't " force " it, otherwise I don't see much problem with forced patina.

Nice knife btw.
 
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Sometimes I get a knife and I absolutely love everything about it.
But it looks so pretty and new that I just can't seem to bring myself to use it.
Even when it's in my pocket and I run across something messy that needs cutting.
I'll walk to my knife shelf and grab another knife to use so I don't mess up the pretty new one.
Finally, in a moment of weakness, I tell myself that I'm being silly and the knife deserves to be used.
I will then go grab an apple and slice it up just to purposely put a patina on it so I stop worrying about it.
I think that's what you mean by "intentional patina".
 
JohnDF said:
Sometimes I get a knife and I absolutely love everything about it.
But it looks so pretty and new that I just can't seem to bring myself to use it.
Even when it's in my pocket and I run across something messy that needs cutting.
I'll walk to my knife shelf and grab another knife to use so I don't mess up the pretty new one.
Finally, in a moment of weakness, I tell myself that I'm being silly and the knife deserves to be used.
I will then go grab an apple and slice it up just to purposely put a patina on it so I stop worrying about it.
I think that's what you mean by "intentional patina".
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Thats me to a T. Im struggling with my 23 mesquite right now with that same scenario. More than likely ill put it in my drawer and pull it out in a few years and use it.
 
JohnDF said:
Sometimes I get a knife and I absolutely love everything about it.
But it looks so pretty and new that I just can't seem to bring myself to use it.
Even when it's in my pocket and I run across something messy that needs cutting.
I'll walk to my knife shelf and grab another knife to use so I don't mess up the pretty new one.
Finally, in a moment of weakness, I tell myself that I'm being silly and the knife deserves to be used.
I will then go grab an apple and slice it up just to purposely put a patina on it so I stop worrying about it.
I think that's what you mean by "intentional patina".
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That works.
It's a great way to rip the bandage off, with stainless you gotta get a scratch or something if it's polished.
 
I've had a time or two when I got sick of looking at the deep pepper spot pits and rust on my carbon blade folders, and have taken some wet & dry sandpaper and returned them to a shiny satin finish hand sanded look to start the process all over again. It's kinda almost like getting a new knife...but not :)
 
sitflyer said:
I've had a time or two when I got sick of looking at the deep pepper spot pits and rust on my carbon blade folders, and have taken some wet & dry sandpaper and returned them to a shiny satin finish hand sanded look to start the process all over again. It's kinda almost like getting a new knife...but not :)
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I used to do that when I was younger... My blades would have all kinds of "use" patina on them, and I'd get out the steel wool, or even fine sandpaper to "smooth them back out". Repeat that process two or three times, and you have a great looking blade..
 
I like to start with a base uniform patina using hot vinegar, then cut various food items to enhance it. Slicing a Wendy's Single (mustard, mayonnaise, beef, tomato, salt, ... all together) can really add an interesting pattern!
 
sitflyer said:
I've had a time or two when I got sick of looking at the deep pepper spot pits and rust on my carbon blade folders, and have taken some wet & dry sandpaper and returned them to a shiny satin finish hand sanded look to start the process all over again. It's kinda almost like getting a new knife...but not :)
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When I first got a patina on my stockman I took steel wool to it "clean" it up. I have since come to love the pepper spotting. I noticed the other day that my 43 is starting to pick up its first few spots. I think here is a few years I may have the blade to match the frontier bone.
 
sitflyer said:
I've had a time or two when I got sick of looking at the deep pepper spot pits and rust on my carbon blade folders, and have taken some wet & dry sandpaper and returned them to a shiny satin finish hand sanded look to start the process all over again. It's kinda almost like getting a new knife...but not :)
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Not my thing, but I get it.

I did that once when I was a kid before I knew what patina or carbon steel was.
I remember using the blade on my 34OT to cut through some kind of fern like plant and 5 minutes later the blade was pretty much black.
I saw that with a look of horror on my face because I thought I had ruined it, so out came the sandpaper.
 
I've a knife or two with some peppering spots on them from a time before truly becoming aware of how to take care of knives, but I have always kind of liked the dull and even gray color that a well used knife will adopt over time. Especially with the Case yellow scales - I think a dull gray blade actually looks better than the shiny steel!
 
Tadeusz123 said:
I've a knife or two with some peppering spots on them from a time before truly becoming aware of how to take care of knives, but I have always kind of liked the dull and even gray color that a well used knife will adopt over time. Especially with the Case yellow scales - I think a dull gray blade actually looks better than the shiny steel!
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I don't mind a ground finish, but a bright polished blade I don't really like that much and this is where patina really makes a knife look so much better.

It's kind of weird I suppose that for me it's not a performance issue, it's all about the preference for a blade that will patina and age over one that will just stay shiny and or look all scratched up.
 
Hickory n steel said:
I don't mind a ground finish, but a bright polished blade I don't really like that much and this is where patina really makes a knife look so much better.

It's kind of weird I suppose that for me it's not a performance issue, it's all about the preference for a blade that will patina and age over one that will just stay shiny and or look all scratched up.
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I'd agree with that, just as some handle materials just look much better with a bit of a patina/some wear, I think the same can be said about blades. If I carry a knife for two years straight, I want there to be some evidence of it having been carried and used - some evidence that it was present in my life, rather than just sitting in a box in a drawer.
 
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