aging a knife blade

[brandon ferro]

i just made a new knife and i want to age the blade,and i thought you guy might know a good recipe thanks

 

[lonehunter]

You could cold brown then sand off, Cold blue and bleach works fast but can be spotty.
Some will say to cut a onion or tomato and not wash afterward.
I prefer the cold blue and bleach method, let it rust for a few minutes then card off with 400grit sandpaper. repeat until you get the desired look.

 

[matt denison]

Smear it with cheap yelow mustard, let sit for exactly a little while, wash off, repeat if neccessary.

 

[Little Wattsy]

Smear it with cheap yelow mustard, let sit for exactly a little while, wash off, repeat if neccessary.

Yep or.... stick it in a jar full of apple cider viniger and pull it out when you like the look. About 4 hours start to look nice.

 

[AWsaddles]

Second on the viniger. You can also drape a rag soaked in it over the blade for a few hours. It will leave a distinct pattern in it depending on the cloth type.

 

[SpottedBull]

Cut up an apple and then leave the blade dirty a while..mustard works too.

 

[crockett]

Don't use bleach- it is too strong and creates a "wormy" pattern rather than an aged, pitted pattern.
Do you guys actually hunt much??? :grin: :grin: Nothing pits a knife blade faster than blood, or gutting game. Put away wet as they say.

 

[LRB]

Don't use bleach- it is too strong and creates a "wormy" pattern rather than an aged, pitted pattern.
Do you guys actually hunt much??? :grin: :grin: Nothing pits a knife blade faster than blood, or gutting game. Put away wet as they say.

Not so much Dave, if you do as lonehunter described. I have gone to cold brown as it usually only requires one cleanup.

 

[salkehatchie]

Pool shock or whatever they use to clean swimming pools out with.

I use, bleach, blue and lots of salt. One application may not do it.

And, I let it sit in my barn in the summer for days. The pitting can be achieved to where the steel looks like it was well taken care of blade from the 1600's or such. Doesn't happen every time.

I have also had guys from Don Fogg's forum state that they do it before hardening. Never tried that.

After hardening you can see the differential tempering on the blade. The harder the steel, the less effect the solution. Ergo...the pool shock solution.

 

[LRB]

If you will cold blue the steel before the bleach, it will rust in minutes. If you warm the bleach it will begin rusting in seconds.
This cannot be done before hardening and tempering, as the blade has to be finish ground after HT, which would totally remove any ageing.

 

[Comrade Coffin]

Best way to age an object - lend it to your kids!

 

[rogar]

:rotf:

 

[Rickey Brown]

I make a few knives and use most of the methods mentioned so I will just at my .02 worth. I have found that white vinegar makes a French gray look while mustard makes a more black patina. I stain a lot of my maple with Aquafortis so I tend to get it on the metal also. A heat gun speeds up the rusting. If you place metal in boiling bleach it will rust immediately and you can steel wool it off. if you then place it in boiling water it will turn to black oxide

 

[Black Hand]

i just made a new knife and i want to age the blade,and i thought you guy might know a good recipe thanks

Use it in the kitchen.

 

[tenngun]

use it remeber in the past folks bought new stuff then put it to work.lots of us brown or blue barrels some leave them to age in the white. wont take long to pick up some color.treat it with love oil it hone it leave aicd stuff you cut on the blade it will color soon nough

 

[Rickey Brown]

boil the vinegar to speed up the etching

 

[gmarc]

Start using it....cut up meat, veggies, fruit. Stir yer coffee...scrape something....you get the idea.

 

[Bear Rider]

I just soak a couple of layers of paper towel in vinegar, wrap the blade up in it, and leave it sit for a couple of hours. It works best if you don't use towels with a heavy texture. The blade comes out with minor variations which looks more natural.