Crusader Dagger

Richard338

Richard338

Gold Member
Joined
May 3, 2005
Messages
7,649
I just finished the dagger shown below and am pretty happy with it.
This is my first use of damascus (Devin Thomas ladder) and the handle was made following Salem's wire wrap tutorial. It took a while to make all the parts a few free hours at a time, but I was pleasantly surprised at how it all fit together.
I'm not sure if I etched (FeCl3) the right amount of time as it turned out a bit darker than I expected.
lFWD51t.jpg

t2aB1VN.jpg

UqVSGZL.jpg
 
Great job.


After the etch, lightly sand/buff with a very fine polishing paper like the pink or mint color of 3M polishing paper. It will remove a bit of the excess oxides.
 
Outstanding.
Love the wire wrap. I've been wanting to attempt that since I saw it on Salem's dagger a little while back.
 
Thanks guys.

Stacy, I'll give some fine polishing a try (I think I bought some of those 3M papers based on another thread of yours about prepping surfaces for scrimshaw).
After etching for perhaps too long, I rinsed with water, then Windex. After all that I dug up an old thread by Kevin Cashen which prompted me to then boil it in baking soda for 15 minutes and apply some light oil.
I'll see how the 3M paper does.
 
Thanks Stacy, great tip!
I don't know how much comes through in the new photos, but 2 mins with the pink 3M paper (4000 grit) made it really come to life.
mJqyFVb.jpg

ztiKeHs.jpg
 
Yep, I love those papers. Makes damascus sing without sanding away the pattern.

When I sell a good damascus knife I give the customer a sheet of the blue or pink paper to keep the blade and handle shining after use and handling. They are especially good on ivories.
 
What's the approximate grit of that 3M paper?

I've got about half a case of old carborundum cloth back polishing paper. Pink, says 2500 grit on the back, and about as abrasives as newspaper. Wondering if thatd fill the same role well enough
 
Thanks everyone for the nice comments.
Stacy suggested pink or mint 3M paper.
I had both sitting around, but only tried the pink.
The pink says 4000 grit and the mint says 8000.
 
dear god. that looks amazing.
can you link that wire wrap video? that is going on my to-do list.
 
3M Wet-or-dry Tri-M-ite polishing papers.
Green, gray, blue, pink, mint, white
400, 600, 1200, 4000, 6000, 8000

Sometime the white is called pale green. There are other types and brands of polishing with different color codes. I have a whole box of yellow sheets I picked up at a tail gate that I have never figured out the exact grit. Seems somewhere around 800-1000, but it is hard to tell.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top