What's going on in your shop? Show us whats going on, and talk a bit about your work!

Something like a camp knife, from leftover N690. Blade is about 12 cm long, 3.75 mm thick, 26 cm overall.

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First 2 blades forged out and heat treated from my first billet of damascus!!

Going to be my buddies new clip point hunter. This is from the 96 layer random billet that I made recently. I cut a rectangular preform with angled tip from the billet and then forged the rest to shape. I learned I could have used a LOT less steel! Was going for a 4" blade hidden tang and ended up with enough for a 6" blade hidden tang!
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This is from the 320 grit Game Changer belt (VSM compact grain) and etched for about 5 min in Gator Piss. It's going to get cleaned up more on the belts and handrub before the final etching. It will have orange Ameragrip handles scales and a guard on it.
Took a small, square cut from the 96 layer billet, forged it out narrower, then drilled for the raindrop and then forged out from there. This is after a 2000 grit handrub and also 5 min in Gator Piss! I was pleasantly surprised to see the shinyness and smoothness of the handrub was still mostly present on the blade!
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Black G10, vintage canvas micarta handle. I am going to redo the handle. I cut the scales from a 12x12 piece and one was fully patina'd throughout the scales and the other was a mottled cheddary look, so I am going to cut new scales from the inner part of the square so they will be more matching patina wise! I didn't epoxy the handle on, so I will make another knife to go with this handle.
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That is beautiful man, good work!!
One question, do you have to come up from behind the gators to collect the piss? Seems dangerous to me..... 😉
 
Very carefully! LOL. I hesitated spending over $60 on a gallon of etchant, but decided to give it a try now that I am making my own damascus. Ferric works OK, but takes longer and leaves a rougher surface from the oxides. This stuff works fast, especially for test etches and will leave the surface smoother, which is nice for kitchen knives!
 
Taz said:
Very carefully! LOL. I hesitated spending over $60 on a gallon of etchant, but decided to give it a try now that I am making my own damascus. Ferric works OK, but takes longer and leaves a rougher surface from the oxides. This stuff works fast, especially for test etches and will leave the surface smoother, which is nice for kitchen knives!
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I thought it was just basically watered down ferric... It's not?
 
When in doubt, use wood. More often than not, I really have to battle knives to go together with a good action/centering/lack of blade play, but this one went together like a dream. I think it's been almost a year since I had a knife agree with my vision for it like this one did. It always makes things easier.
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GP is Iron DiChloride, Iron TriChloride and Hydrochloric Acid from the ingredient list label, so it seems like hydrochloric acid and ferric and ferrous chloride mixed? I've used Ferric Chloride for years and diluted it with water, but that's a darker mix, even diluted and more orangey than the mountain dew color of the GP. It is supposed to leave copper brighter and also leave the 15N20 brighter. I was surprised to see the surface was still shiny after a 5 minute etch on the hand rubbed blade. I am guessing it's something in the mix ratios that makes it work better than the plain Ferric Chloride mixed in water? I got better results much quicker (without having to dip for a while, then polish off, dip, polish, etc several times) than the regular stuff. When I etch damascus, I usually am looking for the pattern, but not necessarily a deep tactile etch, especially on kitchen knives, so this gives the patterning without the rougher oxide feeling to it.
 
I recall a discussion with some folks who had chemical backgrounds and the consensus was that it was dilute HCl and a small amount iron, then after that has reacted adding a small amount of solid Ferric Chloride. The color would be the best way to figure how much FC it needs. It may need filtering or settling and decanting.

These are the simplified reactions:
Fe(II) (Elemental iron) added to dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl and H2O) = FeCl2 + H2 + H2O2. That would create Ferrous Chloride (Di-chloride) and HCL plus hydrogen peroxide. The peroxide breaks down to H2O plus O2, which recombines with the H2 to make water. Thus, you have an aqueous solution of Fe(II)Cl2 and HCl.

Our trusty Ferric Chloride - Fe(III)Cl3 added to dilute HCl = Fe(3) + 3Cl ions in the H2O which is a fancy way of saying it just dissolves. That would be the Ferric Chloride (Tri-Chloride), This ends up an aqueous solution of Fe(III) and HCL.

I will have to play with it someday, but I would say to try:
1 gallon of 10%-20% muriatic acid
1oz degreased steel wool
1oz solid FeCl3 (add a little at a time)
I bet there is an ounce or two of hydrogen peroxide added to speed things up.

Any thoughts Fitzo?
 
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Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith said:
I recall a discussion with some folks who had chemical backgrounds and the consensus was that it was dilute HCl and a small amount iron, then after that has reacted adding a small amount of solid Ferric Chloride. The color would be the best way to figure how much FC it needs. It may need filtering or settling and decanting.

These are the simplified reactions:
Fe(II) (Elemental iron) added to dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl and H2O) = FeCl2 + H2 + H2O2. That would create Ferrous Chloride (Di-chloride) and HCL plus hydrogen peroxide. The peroxide breaks down to H2O plus O2, which recombines with the H2 to make water. Thus, you have an aqueous solution of Fe(II)Cl2 and HCl.

Our trusty Ferric Chloride - Fe(III)Cl3 added to dilute HCl = Fe(3) + 3Cl ions in the H2O which is a fancy way of saying it just dissolves. That would be the Ferric Chloride (Tri-Chloride), This ends up an aqueous solution of Fe(III) and HCL.

I will have to play with it someday, but I would say to try:
1 gallon of 10%-20% muriatic acid
1oz degreased steel wool
1oz solid FeCl3 (add a little at a time)
I bet there is an ounce or two of hydrogen peroxide added to speed things up.

Any thoughts Fitzo?
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Stacy, I had some dilute FeCl that had gone old and didnt etch well since I hadnt used it for a while. I didnt have any more to mix and it would be a bit before I could get some, so I added some muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide and it perked it up pretty good. It definitely acted different than just fecl, not better, just different. I havent experimented with it after that though. I added about 5% per volume of both (under ventilation..) and when I added the HO2, it fizzed and changed colour slightly.
 
Taz said:
First 2 blades forged out and heat treated from my first billet of damascus!
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Nice! Are you addicted yet?

Here's how the chef's knife turned out:
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If I were the type to name things, I'd call this one Ansel Adams...
Specs:
Blade length: 8-1/2" (220mm)
Height @ heel: 2" (51mm)
Spine thickness @ heel: 0.095" (2.4mm)
I'm hoping to get Coop to take a picture of the top side. I like how the powder turned out, especially at the tip. To me it looks like a mountain over a lake.
Have a good rest of the week, all.
 
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