Etching vs patina

Kitchen Knife Forums

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

mkriggen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2013
Messages
1,349
Reaction score
0
A recent tread discusses the fact that some soft iron claddings just do not take a patina well. Is etching a viable alternative for these knives or do they have the same problem taking an etch as they do a patina?

Be well,
Mikey
 
From wikipedia patina is a tarnish on metal, whereas etching is using an acid to EAT into metal. In my experiences etching is much more durable. BKF will take off patina somewhat easily, but not etching (it's lightened the etch on the knife)
 
patina/etching - both are corrosion processes. When iron comes into contact with air/oxygen/acids/oxidising agents it corrodes. Pure iron corrodes extremely readily, different alloys corrode differently. However, the "patina" is going to mainly comprise of Iron(III) oxide and disproportionated Iron oxide. That is just how it is.
 
in my experience cladding which does not patina readily also tends not to take an etch very well either. If you want to etch it you should take extra care with surface prep and don'T expect great results.
 
Back
Top