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Darken a D2 Knife (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I am very new to the knife collecting world. I currently have a D2 knife that I carry daily but I wanted to know what would be the best way to darken the color of the blade and potentially provide more corrosion resistance as well. I'm considering acid-etching but have also heard you could soak a knife in vinegar as well.

What would be the best option here? Any help is appreciated.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (4 children)

If you want to go dark, ferric chloride is likely going to be your best bet.

But you can get decent results with anything acidic, with enough time. I have a preference for slightly heated aple cider vinegar. I'm not sure why, but it gives a nice iridescent sheen with relatively brief soak times. Get it up up maybe 120ish F, soak about twenty, check to see where you are, then every fifteen or so after that until you get where you want to be.

I've not done a lot of d2 though, mostly stuff like 1095. D2 is a bit more resistant than your usual carbon steels, so I can't be sure how long it'll take tbh. It works on d2, but the degree/time is nebulous on my end.

[–] AbsolutelyNotNick 2 points 2 years ago

I used ferric chloride on my Elementum (D2), and it turned out really dark. I then tried copper/brass washing it and it looked great for a few days, but rubbed off easily. Still has a bit of fleck/shiny spots, but otherwise just dark grey.

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