Stripping and forced patina?'s


celticroots

celticroots

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Lots of people are stripping there coated or painted knives. How is this being done what is the best methods you've found. Same with forced patina how is this done?

I got my BK2 and batoned with it and its already scuffed up the finish so I would like to strip it and patina it.

Thanks
Sam
 
There are some chemicals available at box stores that remove the finish. I was cheap and just scraped and sanded it off of my BK 11, then cut up some apples and oranges and used it to split some tinder and it started a working patina. yellow mustard will quickly force a patina as well.
 
Perfect timing for your question, I just stripped my condor bushlore (sanded it) and wanted to find out how to patina it. I heard the mustard before but is it only yellow or will others work? And how long do you let it sit for?

Sorry for the semi- hijack
 
Steveo1o9 said:
Perfect timing for your question, I just stripped my condor bushlore (sanded it) and wanted to find out how to patina it. I heard the mustard before but is it only yellow or will others work? And how long do you let it sit for?

Sorry for the semi- hijack
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Dont be sorry you didnt hijack just assited with questioning and all answer will help both of us and others I would suspect.

Thanks
Sam
 
For my ESEEs (4 and Izula) I stripped them with paint thinner and then wrapped them in a paper towel soaked in apple cider vinegar for about 1-2 hours. The more you let soak, the darker they get. Be careful though, if there are designs or bumps on the towel, they might show up on the patina. You'll have to resharpen afterwards.
 
Patina

I used cheap white vinegar and a old kitchen towel. I used dish soap to clean the head and then I dried it. I then soaked a towel almost to the point of dripping with the vinegar and then wrapped the head of the axe with the towel. I made sure to get the towel laid flat on the surface so it would look uniform. I let it sit for about twelve hours before unwrapping it. When it dried it got a bit darker than when I first unwrapped it. I then applied a moderate coat of Royal Purple oil just for extra measure. I gave it away as a gift without taking a picture first, but it looked very old when it was done. I would not let it go for more than twelve hours.
 
For a patina I soak the entire knife overnight in lemon juice. It usually brings out a dull gray color but on an O-1 knife it made the blade nearly black. It works quite well at inhibiting rust.

-Stan
 
I use paint stripper to take off the coating, and either vinegar or mustard usually. But my best pee-tina so far was with urine, which is the knife in the pic
 

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I used aircraft stripper on my trailhawk and then wetsanded and polished it down to 1500 grit then buffed with white & green compound & several rounds of Mother's Billet Polish....overkill? Yeah probably but oh well haha.
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Then I boiled the head in distilled white vinegar and about a cup of lemon juice for 45minutes(CAUTION: this will stink your place up like vinegar for days lol). Gave me a surprisingly even and great black oxide like finish. I'm very happy n seems to hold up to abuse quite well so far.
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So when Im all done if Im not happy with the patina Is there a way to remove it? Sand it again or media blast it? I wish I wouldnt have sold my blast cabinet when I moved.

Thanks
Sam
 
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johncarbaugh said:
I don't patina my steel but like to use gun blue on it. Gives it a nice look and helps protect it also.
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I have used this method as well. I use the cheap cold bluing liquid I get at China Mart. I used it on one of my Moras and I like the reults. I cant stand rusted steel:mad:
Bob
 
I use Citristrip to remove the Epoxy. Soak the knife overnight in it and the next morning the Epoxy just falls off, couldn't be easier. Most hardware stores carry it.

I have used both vinegar and mustard to patina, but I like vinegar best. I just soak the entire knife in a pan of vinegar, checking on it every 15 minutes or so. If there is a portion you don't want to patina, you can mask it off with duck tape. When it gets to where I want it, I wash it thoroughly and put on a light coat of cooking oil. Good to go.

~JohnP
 
celticroots said:
So when Im all done if Im not happy with the patina Is there a way to remove it? Sand it again or media blast it? I wish I wouldnt have sold my blast cabinet when I moved.

Thanks
Sam
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Absolutely bro, just sand it off. What kind of look are you going for; protection, aged/antique, or what?
 
Ontario RAT and Afghan Ranger

Or Ranger Afghan, or something like that.

Anyway, heavily coated. Micarta scales attached via hex nuts. I removed the scales.

Bead blasted the blade. This black pooky they put on the blades is tough! It took longer than I expected, but after an hour or so I had a stick and stark naked blade.

It's interesting once you have the crud off the blade, how well it was ground, how little real polishing had been done, and that the heat treat appears differential visually.

I initially hot blued the RAT. It looked great. Not much actual blue to it at all, but more of a matte black with smoky grey undertones.

The bluing is sadly prone to rust-even after the stuff is stabilized, salt from sweaty hands, water from rain, etc, will make it rust, and pretty quickly.

So I sadly blasted all my pretty "blue" off it. I had it phosphated ("Parkerized"), and kept the phosphate treated with a little paste wax. That worked very well. That knife is now in Mozambique, and at last report was serving well with minimal corrosion issue.
 
I tried the mustard patina tonight on my condor and came up with this:
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I used Goulds spicy brown on it (it is all I had) and actually used bubble wrap to apply it, let it sit for a bout 20 minutes. I came across this method doing a google search. Personally I like it.
 
Nice look. I've tried mustard and vinegar to force a patina. You get a pretty quick patina just cutting up apples and potatoes too.

I've used cold blueing on my TrailHawk which turned out nice. But I wouldn't use it on my knives, because blueing is toxic and shouldn't come into contact with your food. My outdoor knives do double duty as food prep knives.
 
Stripped mine with Walmart paint stripper, then soaked an hour or two in apple cider vinegar. I have also had great luck with potatoes and gun bluing. If you stick your knife in the potato and leave it there overnight, you'll get a good looking patina.

Looker
 
A little bleach rubbed on a blade will turn it too...just not to much because it will rust it quickly. I've had good luck with vinegar as well.
Highlander
 
use a paint stripper to get off the coating.

For the patina anything that has any acidity will patina carbon steel. If you want a dark patina use white vinegar or rub potatoes on the blade and let them sit for several hours. Mustard gives a bit grayer patina.

My favorites are mango and plums. Rub the juice on the blade and let it sit and it gives a blueish patina especialy mango. I have also heard beef gives a blueish tint but have never tried it.

I did my BK2 with plums and it has a blueish/gray tint
bk2004.jpg
 
GI Tanto Patina

I stripped my gi tanto and used mustard to get this patina.
 

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paint stripper, just did mine. took me about twenty min and it was all off. and that included letting it sit for 15 min. the a couple hours in viniger and it has a great gray Parkarized look to it.
 
I went for a rust brown on some of my stuff, use peroxide with a little salt and vinager, work very fast, rusted in minutes, buff and repeat until you get the brown color you like, you can also boil it and it will come out with a black oxide coating.
 
celticroots said:
Lots of people are stripping there coated or painted knives. How is this being done what is the best methods you've found. Same with forced patina how is this done?

I got my BK2 and batoned with it and its already scuffed up the finish so I would like to strip it and patina it.

Thanks
Sam
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Get some Klean Strip (spray) from wmart. Strip the paint off. Use white or Apple cider vinegar and heat it to a light boil in a vessel large enough to cover the blade. I use the microwave.
Make sure the blade is completely greaseless.

Immerse the blade in the hot vinegar bath until it stops fizzing. The blade will take on a dark grey to black hue and will be dull looking. Rinse thoroughly and scrub lightly with a used greenie pad. Let it dry and apply some Flitz or Renaissance Wax for further protection if you so desire.

The blade will have a uniform patina. If you want to add a more mottled look use some mustard and dab it on with a Q-tip.

DomC :3: :4:
 
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