I like the patina. ECF posted a 1911 in the outdoor forum of his 1911 that he did a forced patina on.

Speaking of! here's a repost of what I posted on the outdoor forums that Sumo mentioned. I'm also working on stripping my dereg completely, gonne be working the sandpaper today and see if I can't get it clean, and it's going to get a refinish job today. I will definitely be posting a family pic later, with all of my scrapyard toys represented.

So, the last few weeks, I've been fiddling around with my 1911, swapping in stainless steel components and generally tinkering for no reason other than to make what is mine truly MINE. I got a little carried away at one point, and ended up stripping all of the blueing off of the slide, not realizing it was corrosion resistant and when stripped to the carbon steel... not so much! After a week or so, Colorado Springs being unseasonably humid the last month, the slide started to darken a bit. I would polish it off, and the next day it'd be back. Then came a revelation! JarheadJournalist's pictures of the forced patina on his M7 Bayo blade drew my attention, and I had to exercise my search fu and find out more. When I realized that I could do this to my 1911, and make it corrosion resistant again, while also adding a custom touch, I had to go for it. Since I already had a bottle of phosphoric acid that I had used to strip the blueing in the 1st place, I bathed the slide in it for about 20 minutes to give it a base patina, then I went back in with some regular old ketchup and a q-tip, and striped the slide. I walked away for an hour, came back and rinsed, then tossed her into the oven to bake out any remaining water at 200`. When all was said and done, I just about cried tears of joy. I still can't get over how well it turned out, and if I didn't know that this pistol was a shooter and not a super custom hotrod gun, I would be afraid to shoot it.

SO, without further ado...

*drumroll* (ok, maybe just a little bit more ado...)



a different angle, little better lighting



countertop shots, alot of reflection unfortunately





I'd really like to thank JJ and everyone else that introduced me to this, you guys helped turn what could have been a costly mistake into a dream come true, and you didn't even know it! Lemme know what you guys think!

The one on the right has a red hue to the patina. it's not red rust is it? or is that a weird charachteristic of the steel?

Nah,just the angle of the blade to the light & a crappy P&S camera.I've got to get off my but & do my SOD.
Lookin forward to your Reg pics,because that 45 looks sooo cool. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

Still diggin the piggyback rats Jeff,great combo.

I can hardly wait to finish getting it stripped and cleaned up so I can apply the patina, I have to stop and get some stripper today, I've been cleaning it off bit by bit with sandpaper, and it's getting tiresome.

well here is a older pic of the fam. theres been a few changes though. brown/black waki, brown/brown s5, and black yard hook are gone. I also shipped the other wiener off to a jyd months ago. now I'm realizing that letting go of knives is just never a good option for me. but I did trim the fat a little and I'm happy with what I have now. I didn't post this pic because I left my challenge coin out of the shot. Oh.. and since this pic I have picked up a couple busses but they are on the fence anyways since my ss4 has become my goto blade lately. Can't beat those mudders!

lazi, I understand about letting something go. I had my blades out yesterday wiping them down and showing my brother--too many but I love them.

Just got my Swamp Rat HRLM in the mail saturday. Thank you to all who recommended it. It is EXACTLY what I was hoping for. I think I may pick up some kydex and try my hand at making a sheath for it sometime next month. Thank you Inspector #27!

I will try to get a pic or two of it with my DeRegulator this week <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Hey lazi what is the blade called on the left side 5th up from the bottom? Looks badass. Thanks.

that's my busse mr. mojo. and it is badass! very close to perfect to me.

Haven't posted here in a bit