Will It Rust - Citric Acid

For those who don’t know, a patina is a thin layer of rust that will protect steel from corrosion and damaging rust. If the metal is properly cared for, a patina will eventually form on any carbon steel if given enough time. To speed up the process you can force a patina.
In this video, we’re going to test out citric acid. Citric acid is found naturally in citrus fruits. It is used in some foods as a preservative and can also be used as a cleaning agent / disinfectant in the house. This is a 1095 high carbon steel knife blank. I start by cleaning the metal, first with soap. Then, I'll take isopropyl alcohol to make sure the metal is completely free of dirt and oils. Let's see how dark steel can become with citric acid.
If you want to see some methods that work well and some that don’t, check out my Will It Rust playlist. goo.gl/J7vPz4
Series Description:
For those who don't know, a patina is a form of rust that protects steel from more damaging forms of rust, like pitting. It is good practice to form a small layer of rust on your high carbon steel tools for this reason.
Since there are so many ways to force a patina, this series will show different ways to achieve this and see which is the fastest, most efficient method. I will demonstrate how to force a patina using common household materials. I will show what can replace commonly used acids, such as ferric chloride, and show what shouldn't even be considered.
A great solution should result in an even, dark patina in a relatively short amount of time (ideally 20 minutes to an hour). I will document the process so that if anyone would like to repeat a method, they can easily refer back to my videos.
So will it rust?
Interested in Forging? goo.gl/YhSdCU
Camping / Survival Hacks: goo.gl/NBaM7h
Knife Making: goo.gl/bvDcaa
Will It Rust? goo.gl/J7vPz4
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Sharp Works

[@ahmadsalihin9101]

Try hot (fresh) coconut water next! I managed to patina my keris nicely with it

[@BricksAndSparrows]

How do you clean the knife between experiments?

[@markhamilton3215]

@Sharp Works Did the Orange Juice Patina have hold strong ?