Squirrel tail cleaning?

[J. Neilson]

And no, I don't mean the rodent. No meat on the tails anyway.

I'm doing a squirrel tail for the fun of it. The cold shop is still down from the fire so all I can do at the moment is forge (a freind loaned me a generator, thank goodness).

I was planning on leaving the "tail" rough since that's the way I've always seen them done but, I made this in 450 layer damascus (I know, crazy) so if I can bring the steel out a little I'd like to. I was thinking of maybe soaking the "tail" in battery acid and then brusing it out as much as I could on a wire wheel. I think that would be a real pain in the a$$ though. How about bead blasting? I've never messed with that process. I'm not worried about getting a mirror polish like the blade will get before the etch, just enough to bring out the damascus.

 

[kile]

I tried beadblasting a piece of damascus once just to see what would happen. I got almost no contrast whatsoever. The whole blade was instantly black.
Kyle Fuglesten

 

[Bruz]

I got almost no contrast whatsoever.

Hmmm, you would think the softer steel would wear off faster...did you use glass bead or sand? Would different pressures or grit sizes have a different effect on the wearing of the steels?

 

[insanity]

If you soak overnight in white vinegar it should remove/loosen the forging scale. (Learned that from Crex.)

WS

 

[Steve Hayden]

You might try a coarse or medium Scotch-Brite wheel on a buffer. They have two layers and you can get the material between them and work it around to clean off uneven surfaces.

Probably needless to say, work on the side of the wheel going away from you.