The Gun Counter

I'd read this in passing but then I got curious. Apparently you can put a "rust" finish on a knife blade, a patina, that will prevent further rust for while. The most common process seems to use vinegar. For example
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-JNW2Y_tZc
The above process uses boiling vinegar....have some way to exhaust the smell.
Some people will use mustard but it is the vinegar in the mustard that does the etching.
As the patina finish wears it is fairly simple to reapply.
A long time ago I looked up the brown finish used on firearms in the ancient days. IIRC it was a rust finish.

Last year I took some apple cider vinegar and put a decent blue job on a cold steel tomahawk head. Its not a particularly durable finish, but it looks good if your going for that aged look without actually aging or rusting the steel. All I did was boil the vinegar up and put the head in with a pair of tongs. I even managed to get a similar finish on the snap for the leather edge cover I made for the tomahawk. I used a dremel to remove the chrome plating and then just let it soak in regular vinegar for a few hours. There are more complicated methods using other commonly available applications that get you a better finish but this one is the easiest.

+1 for apple cider vinegar. Look in the traditional section of blade forum