- Joined
- May 2, 2013
- Messages
- 1,711
Hello all. Sorry I went MIA. I am still making knives and progressing on the ghost jade project I started. As well as a few other campish type blades and my first couple of kitchen knives (about time I tried that out...) I have a close friend who was struck with an illness (leukemia) and has been battling it. So I've been helping the family out with this and that. Mowing and maintenance stuff mostly... I also had a big pre-paid order for my knuckle duster bottle openers so that had priority too. Then there is always the issue of the day job robbing time as we are three people down, and having to pick up the slack by working overtime.
All that aside, I have started tinkering in another arena. I don't know how many e-cig users/vapers there are here, but I discovered this new craze and upon exploration it seems there is a lot we can do in that arena that is similar to what we do here. I have a friend who owns a shop here locally. And he asked me to modify his vaping machine (called a mod...) by heat coloring it and adding a few touches. For those of you who do damascus there is a huge demand for damascus parts and not really any good supply of parts. The heat coloring and etching, polishing and shaping is what really struck a chord with me though and here is the end result. Heat colored stainless steel with the Japanese kanjis for 'Cold Smoke' very lightly etched into the steel to match the Mojo brand dragon head logo.
My auestion today though is about a process called 'neo chroming' or 'aurora chroming.' It leaves an appearance similar to heat colored titanium on almost any other metal substrate (and even some plastics.) I was asked about it after some folks saw the heat coloration of the stainless, and upon exhaustive searching I come up with almost no info. All I can find is that it is a legitimate chroming process, but differs at some crucial point and that point seems to be a guarded secret. All I know is that parts with this finish cost a lot.
I wouldn't think it has a place in my knifemaking beyond a handle bolt or two, but I could see folder handles and guards on art knives done in this stuff. I know this is quasi-off-topic so Stacy forgive me, but I have exhausted all my other resources...
-Eric
All that aside, I have started tinkering in another arena. I don't know how many e-cig users/vapers there are here, but I discovered this new craze and upon exploration it seems there is a lot we can do in that arena that is similar to what we do here. I have a friend who owns a shop here locally. And he asked me to modify his vaping machine (called a mod...) by heat coloring it and adding a few touches. For those of you who do damascus there is a huge demand for damascus parts and not really any good supply of parts. The heat coloring and etching, polishing and shaping is what really struck a chord with me though and here is the end result. Heat colored stainless steel with the Japanese kanjis for 'Cold Smoke' very lightly etched into the steel to match the Mojo brand dragon head logo.
My auestion today though is about a process called 'neo chroming' or 'aurora chroming.' It leaves an appearance similar to heat colored titanium on almost any other metal substrate (and even some plastics.) I was asked about it after some folks saw the heat coloration of the stainless, and upon exhaustive searching I come up with almost no info. All I can find is that it is a legitimate chroming process, but differs at some crucial point and that point seems to be a guarded secret. All I know is that parts with this finish cost a lot.
I wouldn't think it has a place in my knifemaking beyond a handle bolt or two, but I could see folder handles and guards on art knives done in this stuff. I know this is quasi-off-topic so Stacy forgive me, but I have exhausted all my other resources...
-Eric
