How to darken the etched logo on CPM154 blade?

[owensidharta]

Hi, folks!

Need your help here.

So, I have a knife with CPM154 blade steel.
The blade has a little logo on it , that was "marked with electroetch stencil and acid".
Recently, I found a black spots on the blade and I stupidly used a little amount of metal polish to get rid of those black spots. The metal polish removed those black spots entirely, but the etched logo is now looks fade/duller.

Is there any way to make the etched logo become darker/blacker permanently?

Removing the current etched logo and re-etch it is not an option here.

Do I need to use salt water spray on the etched logo to make it oxidized and become darker?

I heard that using shoe polish will darken the etched logo. But, it sounds messy and dirty.

Please give me suggestions and solutions here.

Thank you so much, brothers.

Regards,
Owen

 

[eKretz]

Muriatic/hydrochloric acid will darken it. Not much else will work on stainless. I would mask the blade completely and trim out the logo as well as you can, then wet a piece of paper towel with acid and lay it over the logo. Cover the paper towel with some tightly wrapped plastic wrap and place the whole thing in a sealed tupperware container. Check it now and again until it's dark and then rinse the blade well, remove the masking and fully neutralize the acid with a little baking soda and water. Polish any areas around the logo that bled with a properly shaped block and suitably fine wet/dry.

 

[owensidharta]

Thank you much
Will do it today.

Muriatic/hydrochloric acid will darken it. Not much else will work on stainless. I would mask the blade completely and trim out the logo as well as you can, then wet a piece of paper towel with acid and lay it over the logo. Cover the paper towel with some tightly wrapped plastic wrap and place the whole thing in a sealed tupperware container. Check it now and again until it's dark and then rinse the blade well, remove the masking and fully neutralize the acid with a little baking soda and water. Polish any areas around the logo that bled with a properly shaped block and suitably fine wet/dry.