Darkening / greying / blackening stainless clips

[JRinFL]

I found this on product which migh tbe easier and safer than messing with acids: https://sculptnouveau.com/collections/f ... ck-patinas

Edited: Seems these are pre-mixed acids with other ingredients.

[Evil D]

Silly me, Amazon will sell F.C. to me in a whole range of sizes.

So, having not done this before: Soak clip in F.C. for ___ minutes and then throw it in the tumbler with ceramic media for ___ minutes, something like that?

(The Insta-Blak looks good but was ~$50 and required a heating solution, guessing a crock pot, which I don't have.)

Yeah more or less. I've only done acid etching ones and I royally screwed it up and ruined a Para 2 so my best advice is to dip it for a couple minutes and then pull it out and check the color. I was under the impression that it was simply longer = darker and didn't fully understand that it was etching away metal. As for tumbling you can go as simple as an empty peanut butter jar (plastic obviously) and fill it with patio gravel and tape it shut, wrap it up in a towel or something and tape that shut and toss it into your dryer for a while.

[Bolster]

JR: Nice find! I've already ordered FC which is 1/4 the cost but if it doesn't produce, your find will be my next experiment. Thanks! I assume *any* acid solution will eat away metal, so plan to limit contact in any case.

Evil: Gotcha. A few minutes at a time, and check the progress, will do. Your McGyver'd tumbler is genius. I happen to have a purpose-built tumbler so will use that.

[SpyderGrill]

Heres a Reslience I did the blade, clip, and liners with Feric Chloride I bought on Amazon . Clean it good with alchohol, dip it in the acid and check at 5 minute intervals. Rinse in clean water, wash, stonewash. I did what evil D said above in my dryer for like 5 minutes using a floor tile I busted up with a hammer. If you do a blade you have to cover the pivot area, ball detent, liners where they make contact with blade, with finger nail polish.



A comparison to a stock Resilience



If have a titanium clip you can do this with a torch and the feric chloride

[Doc Dan]

I found this on product which migh tbe easier and safer than messing with acids: https://sculptnouveau.com/collections/f ... ck-patinas

Edited: Seems these are pre-mixed acids with other ingredients.

This looks pretty good. Have you tried it? I see they have one for stainless.

[JRinFL]

I found this on product which migh tbe easier and safer than messing with acids: https://sculptnouveau.com/collections/f ... ck-patinas

Edited: Seems these are pre-mixed acids with other ingredients.

This looks pretty good. Have you tried it? I see they have one for stainless.

I have not tried it yet. I may have to order some to test on various steels.

[JRinFL]

Heres a Reslience I did the blade, clip, and liners with Feric Chloride I bought on Amazon . Clean it good with alchohol, dip it in the acid and check at 5 minute intervals. Rinse in clean water, wash, stonewash. I did what evil D said above in my dryer for like 5 minutes using a floor tile I busted up with a hammer. If you do a blade you have to cover the pivot area, ball detent, liners where they make contact with blade, with finger nail polish.
<clip>

Those look great, thanks for posting.

[Rp5]

BladeHQ has a good acid etch video, I imagine a pocket clip would function the same way.

I've also read notes warning not to leave the solution unsealed in a workshop or whatnot - supposedly can affect nearby tools/equipment.

https://youtu.be/oUxWu-piZ38

[Bolster]

Heres a Reslience I did the blade, clip, and liners with Feric Chloride I bought on Amazon...

Grill, that looks just fantastic...!

[303_enfield]

Dye it with Rit.

[gull wing]

I blast mine with Aluminum Oxide, simple.
It lasts, looks a matt grey, no shine here. Blast only the outside so no drag on the inside.

[Evil D]

I blast mine with Aluminum Oxide, simple.
It lasts, looks a matt grey, no shine here. Blast only the outside so no drag on the inside.

I had a friend who did media blasting, it was a nice hookup for a while. I got a bunch of engine parts done for free but no knife clips.

[Bolster]

I had a friend who did media blasting, it was a nice hookup for a while. I got a bunch of engine parts done for free but no knife clips.

If you want to go that route, and have an air compressor, for about $70 you can get the handy little Speed Blaster. I have one, works well, the main difficulty is arranging tarps and shower curtains outdoors to create a small "booth." Wish I had space for a blast cabinet.

[JD Spydo]

Not exactly blackened, but one of my favorite things to do with shiny clips is acid etch them with ferric chloride the same as you'd do to stonewash them, but don't rock tumbler them and let the clip get scratched and wear over time naturally. If scratched bother you this is probably not for you but I loved it and it does help to subdue the clip a little.




Also not all "painted black clips" are the same. The current Military uses a different coating that's more like DLC (may even be?) And while it does still scratch it doesn't scratch all the way through to the steel as easily and it hides wear really well and doesn't chip off like the old painted clips did.

This is my 52100 sprint and it's seen a lot of pocket time but you wouldn't know it from the clip.



I'm not sure what other standard clip hole pattern clips use this same coating though. I don't know why they'd use a different coating for the Military and not a Para 2.

That looks very similar to a "stonewash" you see on many specialty blades. I've never been a huge fan of "Stonewashed" blades but I don't dislike them either. My M390 Military has a type of acid treatment on it and it resists corrosion just as good as any of the Nitrogen based blade steels.

[Bolster]

Obtained a bottle of Ferric Acid (from our nation's new Ministry of Censorship, Amazon), mixed half and half (about 1.5 oz each) with filtered water, added 1/4 oz vinegar. Cleaned clip thoroughly with liquid dish soap and then alcohol. Dipped in solution for 10 minutes, neutralized with water bath and then with a water+soda bath, and reassembled. Before:

[Bolster]

After...

[Bolster]

In pocket...

[Mini2white]

Caswell Australia make a stainless steel blackener. I havent tried it yet but it looks the goods.

[Bolster]

Caswell Australia make a stainless steel blackener. I havent tried it yet but it looks the goods.

Is it ^ called "370"? Looks like smallest amount sold is 16oz for $40. I know that some of these blackening chemicals can be used just once (according to youtube sources), but don't know about 370 specifically. I notice a separate sealer is recommended +$11.

[Mini2white]

Caswell Australia make a stainless steel blackener. I havent tried it yet but it looks the goods.

Is it ^ called "370"? Looks like smallest amount sold is 16oz for $40. I know that some of these blackening chemicals can be used just once (according to youtube sources), but don't know about 370 specifically. I notice a separate sealer is recommended +$11.

It says some stainless like 316 needs to be activated by dipping in hydrochloric acid first. I am sure this would not be the only product around that does this.