Robg

Yes it is rough out of the forge. I sanded on it a little and you can see the chain in it now. It is very addictive to say the least lol. I'm learning through trial and error.

Thanks for the help billy! The "muddy mess" I was referring to was the chain which I didn't post a picture of because I laid my billet down and couldn't find it lol but I did and I'll post a picture of it here. The pictures that you were looking at is the bandsaw and circular saw blades. They were in FC for 20 minutes and then in almost boiling coffee for 10 minutes. I believe you may be right about the chainsaw chain not having enough high carbon content. It makes sense. Here is the picture of the chainsaw chain.

Ok here's what I got after the ferric chloride and then in coffee.

Yes it's definitely a test piece frosty. I think it's the edges of my flatter because I just recently figured out to round the edges of the flatter. This is my first weld and etching so kind of happy with the results even though it's horrible lol. I'll figure it out. Thanks

Thanks Steve. Thomas it is 43% and I didn't dilute it. Should I have diluted it?

Sorry Steve, soaked in ferric chloride and unfortunately I have no idea of the alloys. I know they were wood cutting blades and that's about it. 

Hey guys! I finally successfully forge welded some billets. Chainsaw chain and bandsaw mixed with circular saw blades. I'm just wondering why the chainsaw chain came out a muddy mess. No distinct pattern. The blades had some pattern but really light patterning. How do you get the really nice dark etch? Both were soaked about 20 minutes. This is my first time etching so I'm sure it's probably operator error too lol. I did not harden either one of these or take them to a mirror finish either. I just wanted to take a peek lol. Thanks

Hey guys! New to forging and forge welding. Wondering if these are weld failures or is this the way the sides just look after welding. It was a 7 layer billet folded once of bandsaw blades and wood cutting skill saw blades. Thanks