Steel Patinas

Kumdo

Kumdo

Joined
Mar 7, 2000
Messages
1,048
Are there different patina effects that can be achieved on steel? Other than the dirty gray that will show up with a citrus bath, can other colors or effects be made?

Also, I've heard reference to "two tone" blades, but have never seen any pictures. Anyone know how one might get multiple colors on a finish?

Thanks, all!


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John Gonzalez
Exclusive Dealer
Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works
 
You know, when I read the title of this thread I thought it said 'Steel Panties' at first. Got me all excited for nothing.
smile.gif
 
Depending on the type of steel you could cold or hot blue the blade.
I did one knife for a customer where i used flat black gun-kote on the flats of the blade and mirror polished the bevels.

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There is no such thing as "good enough", either your work is good or it is not. How is your work?
SGT BLADES www.therockies.com/hagar/
 
Hagar,

Thanks for the info. How did the Gun-Kote/mirror polish combo turn out? Did it look good? Did you spray the whole thing with Gun-Kote and then sand off the bevels? Sounds cool. I'm probably going to buy some GK and give it a try.

Thanks again!

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John Gonzalez
Exclusive Dealer
Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works
 
the gun kote, mirror polish combo looks great, i am not overly happy with how well the gun kote holds up though. (kydex sheaths will rub the stuff off...... maybe the sheath is too tight??)
I sanded the gun kote off the bevels, and then buffed.
I should have the pic of that knife scanned in a couple days. Email me and i'll send you a pic so you can see how it turned out.
hagar01@excite.com

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There is no such thing as "good enough", either your work is good or it is not. How is your work?
SGT BLADES www.therockies.com/hagar/
 
Some people swear by Miracle Whip!

You might try anything acid on a polished blade...Lemon juice, tomatoes, mayo (not Tom, the kind in your fridge!)

With a coating you can go for a two tone effect...

<img src="http://www.fototime.com/79E8A29A9AC7D11/standard.jpg" border=0>

This pic show a "Sentry" in 440C with a polished spine and Gun-Kote...Using a hard wheel, you can remove the coating on the blade bevels...Or try a pass with a Trizac belt...I don't have a pic, but it looks cool!

BTW Hagar, with the coating you need to do a deep sandblast to really get the stuff to stick...Try molding your sheath with a layer of tape on the blade...This should keep it from rubbing (per Normark!)...


Running Dog

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Running Dog Knife Company
http://www.runningdogknife.bigstep.com
runningdog@dog.com
mmurphy@premier1.net
 
Running Dog, Just my opinion but ypur knives are too nice to spray Gun Kote on.
 
If your looking for a patina effect(not a blade coating)then try mayonaise as suggested or even mustard(yellow kind used on hot dogs,etc).
 
Thanks for the kind words Peter...

We have started to do a lot of stainless, mostly BG-42, so you will see less black coated knives...

We mostly reserve it for the high carbon work knives anyway...The Sentry is a backup knife so the black is optional with the stainless steel...

Running Dog

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Running Dog Knife Company
http://www.runningdogknife.bigstep.com
runningdog@dog.com
mmurphy@premier1.net
 
Thanks for all the info, people. I bought some ferric chloride from Radioshack and played around on an old knife (5160). Using a fine-tip permanent marker as an "acid block" I drew in a psuedo-damascus type pattern, then etched it with the ferric chloride. After a few minutes, I used some alcohol to remove the marker. Bada-bing! Interesting effect.

Then I messed it up by trying to darken the whole thing and lessen the contrast. It muttled it all up. So I'm going to shine her up again and give it another try. I'll post pics if anyone's interested.

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John Gonzalez
Exclusive Dealer
Mineral Mountain Hatchet Works
 
I saw a knife a few days ago that had an interesting finish. The guy just left the 440c blade chocolate brown from heat treating and put on matching handle material. It really looked camouflaged.
 
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