Hot Vinegar Patina

[snowbrother]

that's exactly what i want, how do i go about doing that?

I did it a completely different way than what it is posted here. I heated up some cider vinegar and then soaked a cloth in it. I then wrapped that around the blade and wrapped rubber bands around it to hold it tight. I left it like that for about an hour, then I cleaned the blade off and repeated everything again. Because of the cloth, it ended up having a really cool pattern on the blade. I assume that you can use different texture cloth for different patterns.

[K-Fed]

is 'etching' a functional patina? as in does it work to reduce reactivity? i ask because i am seeking the best way to patina for maximum blade protection. i dont care how it looks.

The only time that I was satisfied with the reactivity of the cladding on the zakuri that I had was after a few trips through a hot vinegar bath. After which the reactivity was little to none.

[panda]

thanks, i'll give it a try.

[Justin0505]

The original Fowler honesuki that I hot vinegar patina'ed is still goin strong with not even a hint of rust despite long sessions being coated in chicken carnage. I also just gave a new shig a few soaks in hot vinegar and I've had 0 reactivity issues.
If you really want a deep, long lasting finish, its important to clean the loose black oxide off the the blade in between baths. While the vinegar is re-heating, I first rins the blade under clean water and scrub with a rag and dish soap, then I lay it flat and use 00 steel wool and finally a thorough rub-down with paper-towel and acetone to remove any debris and oil before returning it to the bath.

[cclin]

The original Fowler honesuki that I hot vinegar patina'ed is still goin strong with not even a hint of rust despite long sessions being coated in chicken carnage. I also just gave a new shig a few soaks in hot vinegar and I've had 0 reactivity issues.

I love to see picture of your hot vinegar etched shig if is possiable...

[Justin0505]

I don't have any pics of the new nakiri yet, but here's my old gyuto that was done with the circuit board etchant


The etching solution creates much greater contrast between the metals, where the hot vinegar leaves a less obvious, more natural look that's closer to the contrast created by the polish that the shigs come with.
Neither the hot vinegar nor the etching acid impart any color. The color down near the edge you see in the pics came from where the etched layer was thinned due to sharpening and thinning and a natural patina took root. The etched metal is still just slightly reactive and it will take on some colors over time, just much, much slower than un-etched.

[panda]

that looks sweet, like how oil/gas looks floating on water.

[shaneg]

^^ nice patina, which gyuto is that?

[cclin]

^^ nice patina, which gyuto is that?

Shigefusa Kitaji

[rdmalak]

I decided to try this today on a couple of my Masakage knives, my petty and gyuto. I found out that the vinegar bath stripped off the finish on the petty so now it's completely naked. I kind of like it though. I think the gyuto came out the best. Really like the contrast in the transition and I noticed on the gyuto that you can see the metal grains on the cladding pretty well.

Gyuto



Petty



This is a fun way to get a cool effect on your knives for very little work.