Patina on your Carbon Steel

[unswydd]

I got a Mora #2 last year and decided to do a patina on it. One one side I used Vinegar and the other I used Mustard.
Both sides came out great!

First side is the Mustard.


This side is the Vinegar


I used a cotton tip for both. The Mustard side I just swirled the mustard and left it on for about 30 minutes and did it a couple of times.
The Vinegar took a little longer as I just dropped drops on it left it on for about 45 mintues cleaned it off and did it over and over until I got the desired look I was after. It was fun to do!
Let's see your Patina!

[Echo2]

rock on!....cool effect.

[unswydd]

Thanks Echo! Wish we had a thanks button!

[Domdabears]

Yep, looks good. Keep that rust away.
I used mustard on mine.

[PT945]

Cool. I may have to try that. Thanks for posting.

[shooter1201]

With carbon blades you can achieve a similar result by cutting raw meat.

[dragonjimm]

stuck mine in a raw potato for an hour. did the trick.

[Iron mike]

pretty cool never thought of vinegar I have a Few OPINEL knives got the effect from cutting apples and oranges for my kids the blades are flat dark though not a cool looking design like on yours

[dragonjimm]

any thing with an acidic content will do it. gray scale depends on strength of acid and how long it soaks. my first leatherman got the full blown military black out after i dropped it in a bucket hydrochloric cleaning solution at work.

[Iron mike]

Did the hydrocloric hurt the tool at all I mean the function

[dragonjimm]

not that i could tell. i had to resharpen the blades but thats all. it was a strong solution but not straight acid. sadly i lost that one not long afterwards.