Needing some advice about etching.

R

RedBarron

Joined
Jun 22, 2013
Messages
23
I have an ESEE candiru I plan on stripping down and forcing a patina on. The problem is I'm wanting to keep the logo and serial number on my knife so I figured I'd etch it into the blade.

The method I'm using to etch is using a 9 volt, with salt water and a Q-tip to etch.

My question is if I apply the Q-tip to the logo and serial number before strip the paint off of the blade will the logo etch on evenly and look like it came that way from Esee? Or is it already etched on there deep enough from the factory to remain on the blade when I strip off the paint?

This is what I'm shooting for:
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Well in my experience, with one knife mind you (an ESEE-5) the finish on the bare metal is very toothy...almost like a super fine diamond stone. I would imagine it is a chemical treatment so the coating sticks well. The problem is it will hold water and rust like the dickens. So you'll probably want to sand it...those two have been. With sanding, you will loose a lot of clarity on that logo. Now with mine, a sanded the living daylights out of the thing and I can in fact still see the logo but is very faint.

So I can answer one half of your question and that is that the process of stripping is highly likely to diminish the logo.

About etching, I know nothing.
 
Well I didn't etch it but I think it would have turned out nicer because I could have sanded more......but here it is. I stripped off the paint, lightly sanded and put a patina on. I used spicy brown mustard for the stripes which I left on for 15 min. Then I cleaned it off, and wrapped a vinegar soaked paper towl for 10 min.
 
Before
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After stripping off paint
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Sanding
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After patina
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All that's left is a 20 min dunk in vinegar, sanding the paint off of the scale screws and trying to force a patina on them. Lastly I'm going to replace the back screws with slotted screws so I can put a jute twine lanyard on it. Maybe I'll get a worn leather sheath for it. I'm going for a natural look.
 
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