Tips for getting carbide banding to show well.

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So I've been working on this 52100 knife. I posted a pic in the whats going on in the shop thread but ill show one below.


This picture was basically directly after pulling it out of the ferric chloride, neutralizing it. Then spraying it with wd40 to get any moisture out.

I've tried a lot of things to get this banding to show like I want it to, and I am just really having a hard time getting the contrast i want. What I'm finding is, if i do the normal methods of etching I might do for a hamon, or other things with ferric. When i wash off the excess oxidation. The detail goes with it. Ive tried a good few things but the best so far was letting it sit 24 hours with wd40, then wiping it. But that still doesnt leave me with as much detail as i think can be achieved.

Without making this a novel, I'll say ive tried a good few other methods. Like the hybrid polishing method. Which is giving some results, but isn't popping that much still. It might more after another, 10 or 20 more polishing, and acid cycles.

If anyone has any advice or experience getting carbide banding to show up. I would be grateful for any advice.

 

[FunkCoaster]

FWIW, I got reasonable results from a ferric etch cycles, followed by a coffee etch.

The ferric was five 1-minute cycles, brushing oxides off between.
Coffee etch was high strength Nescafe. Left in for about 5 hours, then rinsed.
Applied mineral oil makes the darks look less gray.

Steel used was 26C3.

Not sure how well instagram links/images are handled on these posts.

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Note that it also includes a sorta-hamon. I clayed the back, not knowing the carbide banding was present at heat treat. Decided to keep it around because why not.

 

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FWIW, I got reasonable results from a ferric etch cycles, followed by a coffee etch.

The ferric was five 1-minute cycles, brushing oxides off between.
Coffee etch was high strength Nescafe. Left in for about 5 hours, then rinsed.
Applied mineral oil makes the darks look less gray.

Steel used was 26C3.

Not sure how well instagram links/images are handled on these posts.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

Note that it also includes a sorta-hamon. I clayed the back, not knowing the carbide banding was present at heat treat. Decided to keep it around because why not.

Thats pretty decent detail.

I can give the coffee etch a shot. Someone mentioned giving that a try for this before also.

 

[Sando]

Like F FunkCoaster , I like using coffee. I've only tried it with straight 26C3. Damascus is a different matter. But still, here's some things I've discovered that may or may not help:

It doesn't etch as much as it creates a patina
Time is important (3-5 hours). If I wait too long the hamon is pretty much gone and the whole blade becomes a consistent dark-grey color.
Periodic scrubbing with fine steel wool helps
Adding a little extra acid backfires. I tried distilled vinegar and even just a squeeze of lemon. I didn't like it.
Pre-etch in FC, some light sanding, and then coffee makes the streaks stand out. Not what I was looking for.

On this blade, there is some, what I think is, carbide banding visible (actually, I've been trying to get rid of it). This was stock removal. So, if that is banding, it's from the manufacturing process.

 

[Stuart Davenport Knives]

Have you tried using loose 1500 SiC powder to remove the oxidation after the etch? Once I started using the 1500 SiC, the hamon/banding etching problems I was having went away. This is a sort of crappy photo of 25c3 banding

 

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Have you tried using loose 1500 SiC powder to remove the oxidation after the etch? Once I started using the 1500 SiC, the hamon/banding etching problems I was having went away. This is a sort of crappy photo of 25c3 banding

Not sic. But aluminum oxide powder. Which, it was giving about the same results as everything else.

Im actually having decent luck right now. Im basically just doing extremely short dips, then extremely lightly polishing between them. So like no more than 10 seconds or so in the ferric chloride.

Its going slow, but its actually working.

Still faster than trying vinegar, or lemon juice.