Can a mod move this to shop talk?
Thinking about picking up a used ESEE 5 to refinish. Never made a knife. But I've built several AK47's. So I think I can handle a refinishing job. (crossing my fingers LOL!) I've been reading salve7/Jays DIY tutorial on bleach etching his ESEE 5. And really like what he has done:
http://sharpedgereviews.com/bleach-etched-esee-5/
I have a few questions:
1) He first etches the laser engravings with PCB etching. Why? Are the laser etchings to shallow? On the logo etching he only etches the skull and crossed knives. And leaves the surrounding circles and wording untouched. And they seem to turn out ok. I guess I'm asking what will happen if you skip that step? Etching not as visible?
2) Any danger in sandblasting between etching the logos and the bleach etching? I know after the bleach your gonna want to sand to leave the resessed areas dark to get that look. Just thought I could save some time by putting it thru my blast cabinet with alum oxide(?) at that step. Will I round off the sharp edges of the engraving to much this way?
3) Could you use black oxide as a final finish instead of cold blu? I've got black oxide and some experience with it. It is at least better than cold blu.
4) This guy over on Jungle forums dipped the entire painted knife into pcb etching. Taping off the blade edge (although some got on the edge apparently). I would assume pooling the etch on the actual logos would be better(?). http://jungletraining.com/forums/showthread.php?9848-MY-Etched-and-Stripped-ESEE-5-Boy
Thank you so much for any help you might have.
Patrick
Thinking about picking up a used ESEE 5 to refinish. Never made a knife. But I've built several AK47's. So I think I can handle a refinishing job. (crossing my fingers LOL!) I've been reading salve7/Jays DIY tutorial on bleach etching his ESEE 5. And really like what he has done:
http://sharpedgereviews.com/bleach-etched-esee-5/
I have a few questions:
1) He first etches the laser engravings with PCB etching. Why? Are the laser etchings to shallow? On the logo etching he only etches the skull and crossed knives. And leaves the surrounding circles and wording untouched. And they seem to turn out ok. I guess I'm asking what will happen if you skip that step? Etching not as visible?
2) Any danger in sandblasting between etching the logos and the bleach etching? I know after the bleach your gonna want to sand to leave the resessed areas dark to get that look. Just thought I could save some time by putting it thru my blast cabinet with alum oxide(?) at that step. Will I round off the sharp edges of the engraving to much this way?
3) Could you use black oxide as a final finish instead of cold blu? I've got black oxide and some experience with it. It is at least better than cold blu.
4) This guy over on Jungle forums dipped the entire painted knife into pcb etching. Taping off the blade edge (although some got on the edge apparently). I would assume pooling the etch on the actual logos would be better(?). http://jungletraining.com/forums/showthread.php?9848-MY-Etched-and-Stripped-ESEE-5-Boy
Thank you so much for any help you might have.
Patrick
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