Help with a mustard finish
- Thread starter Darkstar
- Start date
James Terrio
Well-Known Member
D2 has quite a bit of chromium in it, so it's not the best choice for a forced patina using mustard, vinegar, lemon juice etc. (the chrome resists the acid)
In any case, just daub the mustard on the blade in whatever pattern you want and let it sit. It will lightly etch the steel. This may take minutes for a low-alloy steel like 1084 or hours for a high-alloy steel like D2. There's only one way to find out for sure
If you don't like the results you get with homebrew forced patinas like this, no biggie. In most cases the finish will come right off with 0000 steel wool or fine sandpaper.
In any case, just daub the mustard on the blade in whatever pattern you want and let it sit. It will lightly etch the steel. This may take minutes for a low-alloy steel like 1084 or hours for a high-alloy steel like D2. There's only one way to find out for sure
If you don't like the results you get with homebrew forced patinas like this, no biggie. In most cases the finish will come right off with 0000 steel wool or fine sandpaper.
Bruce Bump
Forum Owner-Moderator
I've had good luck with dobbing cold blue on and dropping the whole piece in Clorox for a few minutes. Try it on D2 though, I'm not sure it works but for low chrome steels it comes out nice. The cold blue resists the clorox action. Heat the clorox if its too slow.