Latticino wrote:Please note that at least the last one of the lovely "patinas" that Nano pictured is most likely pattern welded (Damascus) steel. The others may be patterned using a resist, but I wouldn't be surprised if those also were some kind of pattern weld (chainsaw blade perhaps).
The last certainly looks pattern welded, doesn't it. I believe it was not pattern welded, however, but stands as an extreme example of what can be done when forcing patinas. Be that as it may, the previous two are definitely patina-treated; the middle one is an Opinel, I believe; if it's not,
here's a webpage with forced-patina Opinels, so we at least have that cleared away. Apparently folks that pursue the practice of forced patina use all sorts of acid-based treatments: yellow mustard, brown mustard, mayonnaise, steak sauce, tomato ketchup and so on, and you get different intensities and effects from each; people will use combinations of these to achieve multihued effects. Sticking blades in whole lemons or vinegar baths is done for a plainer, unfigured patina. The condiments are used mainly because you can make interesting patterns without a resist. If you look up forced patinas, you can find all sorts of before-and-after pics, and up to now I have only seen plain steel being treated so.
If I had a pattern welded blade and wanted a patina on it for some reason (I can't imagine wanting to gild that lily, though, because to me that would be vandalism; isn't it striking enough already?), I would give it the bath and save my mustard for lunch.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
