Aging a knife

[Ellen]

Question, a friend wants to make some old style knifes out of 1095 like would have been used by Mountain Men and Voyageurs; she wants them to look a bit aged (NOT to sell as antiques) and was wondering what type of acid etch would be good for this? Thanks!

[sandpile]

Birchwood Casey Browning. Nuff said.Grin. Get it at WallyWorld. If not there Brownells.
Chuck

[Rich Hale]

I use the browning and you put it on a layeere at a time until it is evenly covered,,a rich brown like and old black powder gun. I haev an old kitchen knief thatg expect is 1095 and it has been in the dishwasher and left wet a ton of times. It has a great patina,,not even and not neglected looking but just an old look. I supect if you experiment with the brown,,and maybe some vinegar,,,or even some diluted salt water with a steel wool and oil rub you will find something you like...let us know what works.

[son_of_bluegrass]

I put a patina on a couple of my 1095 knives with a mix of vinager and lemon juice. It was slow untill I dampened some paper towels and put it in the oven on its lowest setting to speed the process. It didn't come out even the first time put it did make the knives look many years old.

ron

[Bob H.]

Along with the browning, you can also leave some of the forge scale on, if that is the look you are after. Hey, this is my first post here!

Bob Harasim

[sandpile]

ELLEN Tell your friend to heat the piece to about 160 to 190. Below the boiling point. I don't like to let it sizzele(sp) on the metal. Gives it a pukey looking color. You can play with it and get the streaky look or get a uniform color on the entire piece.

This can be done with Lemon juice or Vinegar. You can also do it with an apple or potato, wiping and neutrelizing between peeling whatever. You can get an interesting color on most blades.

Chuck

[ThomasPowers]

Some folks use mustard---which is really a way to apply vinegar in a semi random pattern.
So dribble it on, let sit, clean and repeat till you get the mottled look you like.

Try this with old wet tea leaves or wet oak sawdust as well for some different colours.

Of course after you colour you wash clean and then wax or oil.

Thomas