Is the fascination with patina a built-in human condition?

I figure that I can break out the Flitz or the Mother's at any time...and I have. :D But, I generally just lightly use steel wool (SOS pad) on the handful of my traditional carbon steel pocket knives that I consider to be my users. I don't really like the look when the blade appears all blotchy with stains, but rather smoothed out somewhat into a more uniform grayish, friendly tarnish...that (in my mind) protects it from actual red rust. :rolleyes:

Hey - I can change all the above at any time. :p
 
Talking about patina, i agree with people who don't like the splotchy, stained appeareance of early patina "attacks", but i am compelled to love above any other possible finishes the look of a flat, even, uniform grey patina on actually aged carbon steel.
That's what makes all the difference and it is something you cannot reproduce with a technique less than involving 20 to 100 years.
Induced patina, however even and well done it might be, it is not the same stuff i'm talking about, there's something more to it.
Stainless steel will never get there and carbon steel blades need to be very old....something very exclusive i have a sweet spot for.
 
I stopped carrying my GEC knives due to general dislike of the process of patina happing, and Flitzed the heck out of 'em.

Do have some older scout knives I purchased new that have that uniform grey/black/blue finish to the blade that is kind of cool.

What is cooler is that people like their knives here, and can find something that they appreciate that fits their chosen aesthetic preference!

No "wrong" knife, no bad day.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
patina = dirt.

Obviously I am not human. :D

I just found out I’m not human. :( Well that certainly that explains a lot. :)
I'm happy to be in the non human crowd, dark patinas just make a knife look like it hasn't been cared for.

I received my fathers 340T & 770T, they are worn with a patina, there’s a lot of memories in those knives. The memories would be the same if the blades were stainless & scratched. Patina has nothing to do with memories. The simple fact they were Dad's knives, bring back memories. I also have his Leatherman PST, it has no patina but he carried it a lot, that old Leatherman sure brings back memories.

Macchina "Is the fascination with patina a built-in human condition?"
So to answer Macchina's question..........No.

Wanting to connect to your family's history is as old as mankind. But. I believe the fascination with patina is a new phenomenon.
I can understand a grayish tint for protection, that even makes sense to me.
I will never understand why anyone would buy a new GEC and blacken it in apple cider.

I'll allow 1095 to patina but doesn't look like a lot of the pictures I see here. If it gets dark or when it needs sharpening I'll use Eagle One Never Dull to even it out to a light gray.
I'll think for my regular users, I'll stick to stainless or at least almost stainless. I will say I don't care as much for polished stainless, as ground or satin looks better. At least to me. I have been known to use wet/dry paper & change a polished blade to a satin finish.
 
I have to wonder whether the whole patina fascination is part of the retro fashion. A fascination with the lifestyle of yesteryear born from how removed the modern world has become from it. I'd say that the use of 1095 in general on pocket knives is a direct cause of that and the patina thing is part of the package, a subset of this subset of the trend.

Like all trends I wouldn't expect it to last particularly. I'm relatively young but expect that the men of the age used tools as tools rather than believing that they meant anything.

70 years from now people will wonder at the well used artefacts of our age. They may carry retro iphones and rejoice in the two dimensionality of the screens and pathetic battery life saying that it provides a purity and simple ease of use otherwise unobtainable. They will form forums about them showing photos of the cracked screens and worn out cases. We would have said 'but it's just a bleeding iphone, intended to be used, abused and upgraded'. I have a feeling the people of that age would feel the same about the fascination with old and used tools today. Not as museum pieces or as history but to be copied as modern day fashion items and somehow revered for looking like they came out of the past.

*ducks* :D
 
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I don't force a patina as I said ... and I definately take very good care of my knives ... but unless you just don't use them high carbon blades will develope patina.

Mine probably take longer to get there because I don't force it and I do take care of them ... but saying a patina means you don't take care of your knives is not the case at all.

And everyones different ... SS is what works for some and a patina for others is what they prefer.

But even SS blades if used show wear ... but doesn't mean you don't take care of them ...

The best comparison I can give is I have a friend ... been friends since high school and hunt together all the time ... and if he got a scratch on the wood or the bluing faded a bit he was having his gun refinished or trading it for another new shiney one. And now he says all the time how he sure wishes he had held onto this or that gun ... because the memories were made with those guns that got scratched or worn a bit not his new shiney ones.

And I love the look of a new bright blued shiney gun with well figured wood stocks ... but found out long ago I can take care of my guns meticulously but eventually they show wear ... no rust and not from not taking care of them but bolts show signs of firing thousands of rounds ... bluing wears from handling ... I still love a new shiney gun ... but I have a safe full of well used guns along with some that look new still but only see use on a rare occasion.

It's just how you look at it ... all in personal prefrence and what you see when you look at a knife as compared to what someone else sees.
 
I question your premise that people are fascinated with patina. Some people are sure, but many aren't. Spend some time in other subforums, the folks there don't have near the enthusiasm for patina that many here do.

Patina is nothing more than visual evidence of a chemical reaction. It's neither good or bad. I don't force it, but neither do I waste my time polishing it off.

Patina can look good at times. It's like mellowed stag, dark yet supple leather, the silvered edges on a blued firearm, the deep black of a seasoned cast iron pan, or the burnished wooden handle of a treasured axe. They're all marks of a well-cared for and valued tool, one that was made properly and has proven its worth through the years. That more than anything is what I am fascinated by, especially in our modern disposable and throwaway society.
 
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All of this talk about our knives, and the results of use by either us or our ancestors has me thinking of my grandpa, or great uncles and aunts who lived their whole life on a farm, working from dawn to dusk using knives, and various other tools, and what they'd say about patina.

I think they'd say "Ryan, it's a tool. Please put down your phone and do something constructive with it."

:)
 
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I think they'd say "Ryan, it's a tool. Please put down your phone and do something constructive with it."

:)
I don't think anyone in my family would ever say that about a knife.

But that's probably mostly because my name's Matt. :D

Otherwise, wise words!
 
I'm not a fan of patina either. I like my knives to look new. Plus I don't like cutting my food with a blade that has patina on it. Can't tell if it's dirty or not. If I went into a restaurant and saw a cook using a knife with patina on it I would not feel comfortable.
 
I'm bit too tired and bourbon fueled to write anything constructive BUT!
I do not like when people force patina on their slip joints and then call them "users".
It bothers me.

But yea, I have developed taste for natural materials of late years.
I like how they are more lively. But then again, I still love my more modern stuff too.
Funnest part is to mix new and old stuff in good moderation.

5r0khHE.jpg
 
I think it's the mirror polish that throws me off with knives. With carbon blades, the patina will cover the mirror polish. Seeing an 80 year old SS knife with beautifully worn handles and a mirror polished (scratched or not) blade looks unfitting to me. I wish more makers would leave the "As Ground" look to their blades.

I am the opposite. I love seeing aging, warn handles with pitted steel that is polished and renewed. It reminds me that new life can be breathed into old, forgotten things and the contrast looks amazing.
 
In my mind there's no right and wrong on this. Just personal preference. My preference is stainless steel with a satin or as ground finish. I grew up with Case and Schrade slip joints with non stainless steels and don't like the look of patina or rust, or the time it takes to keep it at bay.
 
I think that patina, relative to the human consciousness, is purely sentimental in nature. The people who love patina seem to concentrate on the nostalgic memories it conjures up. They speak of forced patinas as fakes. I personally don't see the difference between sticking a blade in an apple for a couple hours and cutting up a couple of apples to eat, but then again, I'm not the sentimental type. If I carry a carbon blade, I usually force a patina with vinegar or coffee grounds (or both together) just for the protective aspect of it. I get full coverage, with a more even color than an "earned" patina. If I don't expect to use a carbon bladed knife hard, I may just leave it unpatinaed and make sure to clean it thoroughly after use. I have found that using a carbon blade with patina in public will get you lots of "yuks" and "oh mys," people thinking the blade is dirty. So I generally carry stainless to work or anywhere else I may share a blade.
 
I realized I didn't post pictures of any carbon steel with patina.

This imperial Barlow had most of the patina when I got it

This peanut was new old stock and did not

This imperial H6 had this patina when I got it.

The Barlow only saw light use, so it doesn't have many stories to tell that aren't with me .

The peanut has no stories to tell other than how good the chicken was I've cut with it :D

And the h6 belt knife has many many stories to tell that I can only dream about.
How many memories we're made by the kid who owned it, camping with their father or grandfather, maybe when they got it being their first fixed blade, or maybe even skinning their first game.
Plus the story I could tell about how I had to replace the scaled because I dropped it on the shop floor breaking them.
I've also got my great grandfathers axe which has many dings and gouges in the steel that I'm sure each have a specific story to tell that I'll never be able to hear.

Wow! I LOVE that Imperial! (I am OBSESSED with picking up a "Boys knife" like that right now.)
 
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