antique finish

Recently, I was thumbing through an old issue of Blade Magazine and I saw a blade finish I absolutely love. It's an antique finish on one of Ricky Fowler's O-1 skinners. There's a picture of what I'm talking about in the October 2000 issue of Blade on page 47. I was wondering if anyone out there knows how he achieves this finish. I'd really like to try it on one of my knives. (I use O-1, too.)
On a side note, I thought I'd pass along a little good (I think) information. I'd posted a question earlier regarding belt sanders, and was told the 2x42 Craftsman wasn't a good investment; that I should save my money and buy a Coote or Grizzly. Well, guess what. Someone bought me a 2x42 Craftsman belt grinder. Although I know it won't last like a Bader or Burr-King, it has improved both the quality and speed of my work drastically. And I certainly couldn't beat the price! I ordered my first round of belts from SuperGrit (boo!-I was not impressed with their customer service at all) Now to the information: If someone were looking to build a belt grinder for flat or convex-grinding work where a large contact wheel was not necessary, that person could order a replacement 5 1/2" contact wheel from Sears for $10.95. It runs just as true as a Bader but without Bader's $75-$200 price tag. I ordered two spare platens for my grinder at $4.95 each. Just in case someone wanted to order one, the part # is 4661.00 for model #351.215420. Hope this helps someone out there.

Joe,
Congrats. on the grinder. I have a 2x48 from KBC tools. It was my first grinder and worked well for a long time (I toasted the motor once and warrantied it). I've since purchased a Square Wheel but still use my small one all the time.
I've never tried it but heard that you can soak a blade in tomato juice to get that aged look.
Jon

joe, I started out with the craftsman 2x42 and used one for almost a year before I purchased a 2X72 from Grizzly, which is the Yugo of the Grinder World. Recommendation you will get if you ask knifemakers range from Bader to Coote and ProCut, but hardly anybody says, go Grizzly. Nevertheless the Grizzly was a big improvement over the 2X42, for a relatively small increase in purchase price. Much longer belt life is one of the benefits.

SuperGrit, by the way, has been my main source of belts for months. their phone service is sometimes a bit unpolished but their prices and delivery have been excellent.

The problem I had with Supergrit was that they failed to send me some 600 grit belts I had ordered with some other belts. I called and informed them. They said they would ship my (paid for) belts immediately. A week later I still hadn't gotten them. I called to check again and the operator said they were shipping them and hung up on me. I don't know anything about the Grizzly, but several people recommended it.

I believe I would have called back and raised some major h*ll if someone hung up on me for that reason.
That is just uncalled for ya know?

Joe, I got one of the 2x42 sears for 20 bucks and replaced the motor with a one horse i had on hand and use it for handle work only...For an extra grinder it works great........carl

To answer your remark,I have used a grizzlyfor 4 or 5 years.Ijust sold it last week.It was my main grinder and I used it to make several hundred blades,including my abs journeyman knives. Thanks Robert

I am still useing my Craftsman 2x42" sander and am looking forward to upgrading to a Coote. All in all it's not a bad grinder and even when I up grade I'll probably keep it. There are some problems though. I grind without a platen and ground a hunk out of my thumb when a belt grabed a small blade and my thumb got caught in the front of the houseing. When I got the bleeding and curseing stoped, I took a cut off wheel and removed the ofending cast iron. The wheels are also small and don't work well with coarse belts(36grit), tends to crack belt face.

I don't know the finish you are refering to exactly, but I have heard that you can soak in lime juice and I acidently aged a bowie by soaking in feric cloride to long.

Btw, I would have forever loveing raised some h**l about being hung up on.

Good luck and let us know how it goes

I read that you can get that aged look for a carbon steel blade by taking a couple of cans of stewed tomatoes throwing them in a garbage bag with the blade and leaving it out in the sun for a couple of hour (onions are optional)

Here's a pic of one that I sold at the Blade Show this year. I made it several years ago, and wanted to do the "antiquing" you are referring to. Larry Harley told me to wipe it with lime juice, so I sloshed some on. You can see the result: no rust or any problems at all after more than 5 years.