Mark Redmon
Well-Known Member
I was curious if anyone else has had an issue getting CPM D2 to take on a patina. When I first started making knives a few years ago, I made a few out of Admiral's D2. I decided to play around with a mustard and vinegar finish and found that it would take on a nice dark mottled look with a few applications. Soon after, I started using stainless for most of my projects, so forcing a patina was a non-issue. After living with and evaluating a few of those early D2 knives for a few years, I decided it really needed to be back in the mix. Recently, I purchased some CPM D2 from Niagara. I've made several knives from this so far, and it's really nice stuff.
So here is the issue: I am making a knife for a friend of mine, and he was definitely leaning toward a darkened blade. I'm not really into sprayed coatings, so we talked about a vinegar patina. I thought it would be a piece of cake (based on past experience), but I can't get it to take on much color. I realize all steels aren't created equal, but should it be that much better in corrosion resistance? What I've tried at the point is yellow mustard, warm vinegar and formula 44-40 separately.
I apologize for the long winded explanation... just thought I should give some background.... or maybe I'm just a long winded kinda guy. At any rate, I'd like to hear any opinions. Should I just go with a rubbed finish, or is there something I can do (short of changing the steel) to get this thing dark?
So here is the issue: I am making a knife for a friend of mine, and he was definitely leaning toward a darkened blade. I'm not really into sprayed coatings, so we talked about a vinegar patina. I thought it would be a piece of cake (based on past experience), but I can't get it to take on much color. I realize all steels aren't created equal, but should it be that much better in corrosion resistance? What I've tried at the point is yellow mustard, warm vinegar and formula 44-40 separately.
I apologize for the long winded explanation... just thought I should give some background.... or maybe I'm just a long winded kinda guy. At any rate, I'd like to hear any opinions. Should I just go with a rubbed finish, or is there something I can do (short of changing the steel) to get this thing dark?