Damascus Etch??

Fred.Rowe · May 10, 2005

I want to selectively etch some of the large Bowies that I clay harden; by applying an acid resist, of some type, at and below the temper line. I want a more pronounced look to the damascus above the line. By expermenting, I found
that the hardened area of the blade eats away faster than the soft material.
I thought that after I got about the depth of etch I wanted on top I would remove the resist from the hardened area, then put the blade back into the acid.
I figure just a couple of minutes here. I want it to have only a little feature below the temper line. If any makers on this site have tried this tecnique, or can give me some feed back on the acid resist. I would appreciate a post.
Fred

jiminy · May 10, 2005

Fingernail polish works fine as a resist for FC. It should be relatively easy to follow the temperline using the little brush that comes with the polish. Remove with nail polish remover (acetone).

Fred.Rowe · May 10, 2005

Thank you much Jiminy. That should work well. Fred

ysforge · May 10, 2005

Sharpie is a great etch barrier

Fred.Rowe · May 11, 2005

ysforge said:
Sharpie is a great etch barrier

What do you remove the sharpie with?

AwP · May 11, 2005

just so you know, when you diff harden damascus, the non hardened part between the hamon and the spine will have less contrast then the hardened portion, it'll look more washed out. If you're doing a deep textured etch and going to remove the oxides then that might work out just fine, I donno since I've never done a deep textured etch.

ysforge · May 11, 2005

Fred.Rowe said:
What do you remove the sharpie with?

Rubbing alchocol on a Q-tip does pretty well.

Fred.Rowe · May 12, 2005

ysforge said:
Rubbing alchocol on a Q-tip does pretty well.

Thanks guys for the information. I'll post photos if this works out. Fred