Enhancing etched markings on Finnish knife

[jpr9954]

I have a Lappland reindeer knife that I bought in Finland back in the late 1970s. The maker's name and location were etched on the blade. I let someone that I worked with sharpen and polish the knife a few years ago and he polished most of it right off. If I hold it in the light just right, I can still see a light haze of etching.

Is there any way to bring this back up? I'm not really trying to restore it to its original condition but would like to be able to read who or what company made this knife. Would a weak acid like lemon juice work?

Thanks

John

 

[MacHete]

Drat! I have a similar question, and I'm bummed there's been no reply to this one.

I have a variety of machetes I'm planning to refurbish (NOT "restore") and most of them are badly eaten up with surface rust. My priority is to return them to usable condition, but I would like to preserve the manufacturer's markings as much as possible. These are not historic or collectible pieces- I would just like to keep the markings for my own reference.

I was wondering if there might be such a thing as a slow-working etch paste (such as I have seen for etching glass) that I could rub into the markings and then wipe off of the surrounding surface in the hope of deepening the etch before cleaning up the blade surface?

I realize that the etch would bite "out" as well as "down" and might reduce the sharpness of the markings I am trying to save. I guess I would just try to do it as delicately as possible to find a balance between "down" and "out".

Any thoughts, tips, suggestions or experiences would be appreciated. :thumbup:

 

[Tinbasher]

Drat! I have a similar question, and I'm bummed there's been no reply to this one.

I have a variety of machetes I'm planning to refurbish (NOT "restore") and most of them are badly eaten up with surface rust. My priority is to return them to usable condition, but I would like to preserve the manufacturer's markings as much as possible. These are not historic or collectible pieces- I would just like to keep the markings for my own reference.

I was wondering if there might be such a thing as a slow-working etch paste (such as I have seen for etching glass) that I could rub into the markings and then wipe off of the surrounding surface in the hope of deepening the etch before cleaning up the blade surface?

I realize that the etch would bite "out" as well as "down" and might reduce the sharpness of the markings I am trying to save. I guess I would just try to do it as delicately as possible to find a balance between "down" and "out".

Any thoughts, tips, suggestions or experiences would be appreciated. :thumbup:

If you were going to do this you could cover the blade with a thin layer of wax then scratch away the wax either way .
1. leave the makers mark covered then clean the rest of the blade or.
2. scratch out the makers mark and acid etch it deeper with acid.
Hope this helped a bit.
Richard