Need some help, cable damascus???? and stag handle????

S

stefanj

Joined
Aug 5, 2007
Messages
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This knife is a gift I am making for my Battalion Commander who is retiring from the Army. He is one of those few good leaders so I want to make him something nice that is special (he helped me find the Cable at Fort Hood and load it up on our last trip there).
I made a cable blade that when filing I could see the cable pattern!! Since I have sanded it it has gone away. I want to bring out the pattern of the cable in the blade aka cable damascus.
Now my cable damascus questions are:
1. What grit should I stop sanding at before etching the blade??
2. How long does lemon juice and white vinegar take??
3. Would pool acid work (would be much faster)??
4. Any other ideas to etch the blade (Radio Shack doesn't have
the etching compound and I can't remember the name of it
at this time)?
5. Do you sand any after you etch or polish?

In regards to the stag handle, I messed up free hand drilling it but I believe it is recoverable. I was thinking about taking all the powder/dust from sanding and drilling the handle and mixing it with superglue and packing it into the flaw, wait for it to dry and then sand it down. Does that sound like a good idea??

Stage handle:
1. Stabalize? Is this just using superglue to seal up the
cracks or is it suposed to cover the entire handle?
If you don't suggest superglue what and where can I
get it?
2. To secure the tang in the handle I plan on pinning it and
gluing it with gorilla glue, sound good???
3. Any suggestions??


I am trying to make this piece nice since the Old Man deserves it!
He spent one year in Iraq (we chewed the same pieces of dirt over there in and around Baghdad even though we weren't on the same teams or even knew each other at that time), and he has done a lot for the Army.

I appreciate any and all help!!!

Thanks!

Very Respectfully,
Stefan
 
Etching should restore the pattern.
The etchant used by most is Ferric chloride (AKA - Printed circuit board etchant) Check your radio shack again. Many of the sales people don't even know they carry it.
Other mild etchants, like lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, etc. take longer to get a result, and don't etch very deep (more of a patina).
Muriatic acid (Hydrochloric acid for pools) will work in diluted concentrations, but is very aggressive. It must be thoroughly neutralized after the etch (etch will be very fast, BTW), or it will come back as rust later. This may be especially a problem with cable damascus.Store the acid and do the etching outside. This is nasty stuff.
Making a paste from sawdust/powder and glue will fill and repair many a mis-step. Let dry completely and sand out. It often is invisible.
If the stag isn't already stabilized, just leave it as is.
I would use epoxy instead of gorilla glue, less mess to clean up.

Here is the Radio Shack link on the etchant:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102868
 
TSP available at the local hardware store. (tri-sodium phosphate) Thats what I use then a good scrubbing with baking soda and water.
 
Thanks!!

Another question I have is how to reduce the amount of scale when quenching a blade or do I just have to deal with it?
 
So far with all the hand filing and sanding I'm putting in this should be my nicest knife to date (not the caliber of what I have seen here but darn good for me).

I appreciate the help!!
 
Scale can be remover by soaking the blade in a 50:50 vinegar and water bath overnight. Scrub it clean in the morning and grind away.
Stacy
 
bladsmth said:
Scale can be remover by soaking the blade in a 50:50 vinegar and water bath overnight. Scrub it clean in the morning and grind away.
Stacy
Click to expand...
Thanks Stacy.
I just sanded the blade to get the scale off (I tried to get on earlier and check if there were any responses but the server was busy).

I have the blade sitting in TSP to try and etch it (closest radioshack with etchant is 47 miles away from my work, 57 from my house). I mixed the TSP with hot water so hopefully it works ok.
 
Stefan,

The TSP is to neutralize the acid/ferric chloride. It will not etch the steel. If you can not get the Fcl then the Muriatic would be my second choice but like Stacy pointed out it needs a thorough soak in the TSP after etching. You can leave it in the TSP over night. As far as the etch goes I do 3 - 2 minute soaks with a scrub in between. But that is with the 3-1 dilution of ferric. If you cannot do the acid then heat up some vinegar and do several soaks with that.

Good Luck
 
Thanks!!! I was a little confused and thought that the TSP was for etching.
I think I'll pick up some muriatic acid tomorrow.

I appreciate the help!

Thank you,
Stefan
 
Sorry about the confusion Stefan,
The solid 7 strand stuff etches better in warm vinegar, if thats what you are working with. I didn't get a good etch with FeCl on that stuff.
After a good soak in TSP, I still scrub down with baking soda and water. bruce
 
Bruce,
Thanks, I'm using some cable that my Battalion Commander and I had found out at Fort Hood (it was trash). He helped me load it up our last trip we took down there for a mission so I figured it has some sentimental value!

That 7 strand stuff is a joy to work with!!
If you don't mind I would love to purchase a couple of sections of that from you when I come off of leave?
So far I have the one knife etching in the muriatic acid (its the stuff used for concrete etch and not very strong aka slow etch).
I did the etch after the quench which is also showing the areas that are hardened very distinctly. I should have established the area to harden farther in the blade and not just so close to the edge.

I could really use a beer!!! It's been a trying day!

Thank you for all the help!! I need it!!

Very Respectfully,
Stefan
 
Well so far the blade looks good. I have it soaking in TSP which is where it will stay overnight. Looking at the etch it brought out the hamon (actualy is a bit higher then I thought which is good!). I can't wait to pull her out of the TSP, sprinkle a little bit of baking soda on it and wash with some hot water.

What do you do to protect the blade after that??? WAX?? or just oil??

Thanks
 
Stefan, I'll have a substantial amount of that cable soon.
I hose the pw blades down with WD40 or something similar , to drive the moisture out.
 
One of hte tricks to etching cable is etch for a short time (15 mins or so) then take it out and scrub it down with steel wool, then etch for another 15 mins and then another scrub down with steel wool, keep doing this over the length of the etch (my last cable blade i did 2 hours 15 mins) this will bring out pattern the best in my experience, otherwise it etches too flat and you dont get much of a contrasting look
 
i agree justin.mercier, i like to deep etch cable, and that works best if you remove the residue build up a few times throughout the process.
 
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