Thanks for all of the kind words, guys! I'm not worthy of it. Like Dennis Miller says, I'm just a young kid with a dream . . .
What is the blade finish?
The O1 knives have what I'm calling my "Force Aged" Finish. I use the gun blue/bleach method. The fumes from this process are deadly, so it must be done outdoors and with proper PPE (respirator, goggles, gloves, etc). Here's my process:
-Shape the scales to the tang and very, very deeply etch my makers mark and steel type.
-Tumble the knife for about 30 minutes
-Apply gun blue (I've been using Birchwood Casey's Super Blue) with steel wool
-Rinse knife with hot water to help set the bluing and warm the steel
-Submerge the knife in bleach (I use a 4" PVC tube to hold the bleach and use SS wire to hold the knife)
-I very lightly agitate the blade in the bleach for anywhere from 30 seconds to 4-5 minutes, depending on what I'm after
-Rinse the knife thoroughly with water and then coat liberally with penetrating spray
-Scrub the corrosion off with steel wool
-Tumble for about 10-15 minutes
I sometimes do 2-4 cycles of the above procedure before I'm happy.
If you decide to try this, be prepared for your knife to look like it sat on the bottom of the ocean for a month. Here is the above Plissken after pulling it from the bleach:
