So I dis a hot vinegar wash for 2 hrs. Stabilized it with t9 and I'm pretty impressed with how the dark stayed, plan on stabilizing the interior scales with t9 also stripping the t9 after a couple days from the blade and by this weekend see how the color holds up... So this is the short attention span of a good patina obviously nothing beats just using the damn thing and oiling it but going for a cheater head start
Over nite soak in acv, then wash with soap, water and a nylon brush, hot air dry (hair blow dryer), then a very thin coat of clear silicone on each scale before reinstalling.
@Zeek It was late, one too many Busch lights, the black and white mankini threw you off you were thinking sheep right?
doubt it, not stainless, but if you leave a carbon steel blade in a grapefruit for several days, it does a wonderful job.
Me thinks we need to keep this thread up for our erstwhile compadres to look at, it's"stain less", not "rostfrei". If it can be etched it can be patina'ed. It's just a matter of with what...
After etching, removing the powder coating and sanding, I dabbed it with rust inhibitor or rust converter using cotton balls. This is how it looks after leaving it for at least 6 hours to dry
I just did a forced patina on my new BBQ OKC old hickory butcher knife with some boiling hot apple cider vinegar.
I also did the hot apple cider dunk. I loved the way it turned out, matte black and really dark. I used a small Pyrex casserole dish and boiled/cold-rinsed several times. The blade has slowly worn off the black patina, but i covered the handle with clear nail polish to preserve the color.