Blade finish question

[SGTcarbine]

Im finishing up my second knife, its a full tang blade etched in diluted acid, the handle/spine area is not etched. Will it do any harm to my micarta handles or spacer material if I apply the acid to the spine with a q-tip, then spray with windex? FYI the micarta scales are fully attached.

 

[Makermook]

I would take two pieces of micarta, glue up a sandwich with a piece of your spacer material in the middle (using the same adhesive you already used on your knife), put the etch solution on it, and see what happens. Theory about whether any of your materials will react badly to your etch solution is all well and good, but actually testing all the materials together is the best way to see what'll really happen.

 

[Jack O'Neill]

I have done that with ivory on for handle scales and had no problems . Mask off the handle so only the tang is exposed .

 

[james terrio]

What Makermook said, test on scrap. I once etched an assembled knife with acetic acid and it did horrible things to the vulcanized fiber liners. I had to tear the whole thing apart and rebuild it

 

[NickWheeler]

You're not going to get it to etch evenly. Any kind of etch, whether it's damascus, san-mai, clay-hardened blade.... needs to be done with the blade all on its own.

The funny thing about this idea, is that I've had guys get irritated with me for saying it, yet those same guys agreed that you need to finish the front end of the handle slabs before gluing them to the tang because you'll never get the fronts finished as well if you try to finish them AFTER the handle is glued up.

It's the same idea with this--- you can etch the tang afterward, but it will never be done as well as if it were done prior to gluing the handle.

My recommendation would be to sand out/ polish up the tang/spine on this one, and then with a future knife----learn how to construct a handle so you can etch THEN affix the handle slabs.

It will require accurately drilled holes and a couple indexing pins will really help to nail it down right

 

[SGTcarbine]

Thanks guys,
I agree with you Nick, I know the etch wouln't be even I just didn't like the contrasting spine, but with this being my second knife I can live with it. I will learn to get the scales pre shaped eventualy, or reserve this kind of finish for hidden tangs. The finish I did was an aged look ( cold blue then into the diluted acid) the main reason I dont like the shiny spine. But thanks again everyone, I'm learning every day and loving it.