Yesterday was quite a learning experience. I made my 2nd blade, and love the way it turned out. This was my first heat treat as well, so I followed instructions I've read on here (for W-2). Did 2 thermal cycles, soaked for 5mins and quenched in parks 50. My heart sank when I heard some cracking, but luckily it was just the clay (I went for a hamon). I had gotten a slight warp in the tang because I only quenched the blade, so that was a mistake not to be repeated. I managed to get it out by clamping it to a piece of angle iron during the temper.
After grinding and hand sanding up to 3000 grit, I did close to 10 etches, each about 1-2mins, wiping it down with windex each time to get a deep etch. Now it looks even better than I had hoped. And I honestly don't think I've ever learned so much in one day. And after all of this was done, I proceeded to chop a 2x4 to test my heat treat. And to my surprise, the edge held up as if I didn't even hit anything.