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Posted

Well here is my first cable damascus made form 8" of 1" EIPS. I'm pretty happy with it, I wish that the whole thing looked like the riccaso, or even the spine. Any ideas why the watering lightens toward the cutting edge? My only thoughts are that there was more carbon migration or something like that where it was thinner? I quenched it in warm drain oil, and tempered it in toaster oven at 350 for an hour. Etched it in 50/50 ferric/water for 3 rounds of 10 minutes, then was and sand with 1000 grit and back in. I knew that the watering would be faint, but I had hoped for it to show up a little more. Is there any thing i can do to it? Don't get me wrong, I'm not disapointed, but I always want more!

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Posted

I am not familiar with the term watering but suspect it is wot I know as etching results. I am not sure how you quenched this piece but is it possible that your blade may have lost some heat from forge to tank and made a different hardness,,Softer on the thinner part of the blade? That would make a etch look different that other parts of the blade. I leave blades fairly thick before etch and have never seen this before.

Posted

Thanks Rich, You might be on to something! I did have to sprint across my shop to get to my quench tank that was out side. As spectacular as it was, maybe it was too long. Is there any reason that I can't do it again? Thank for the help!! Oh, by the way, I just got the term watering from Jim Hrisoulas book The Complete Bladesmith and yes it is the pattern.

Posted

you could do it again , just get it a little hotter this time around . it wouldn't hurt to normalise the blade a few times first just to be safe

Posted

Thanks, I did do it again already! I did anneal it and then rehardend and tempered it. Sanded it down to 400 and re etched it. It did come out looking better, I'm sure it will hold an edge better. I'll post pics after I get it handled.

Posted

Yeah, there was probably a difference in the hardness across the blade.

also, dilute the ferric to about 1 part to 4, ferric to water. Then, just etch for about 30 seconds and look at it. You may find that a short etch is better. A more dilute solution will help bring out the differences. Make sure the whole thing is well and truly polished first, then degrease (windex will do this just fine), then etch.

sorry if you already know the stuff I am saying. I am just trying to help.

kc

Posted

Well here are some pics of it all done. I could have done much better but I'm not disapointed. I struggle with the full tang and tring to keep the tang etched through the handling process. I tried to touch it up after and got it to the right color, but doesn't show much watering. The Handle is Brazilian Cherry with several coats of Danish Oil, and the sheath is just tooling leather. I was going for the look of the old six shooter holsters, I think that I kind of achieved my goal. I wish I made the handle of the knife 1/4 to 1/2 inch longer. My little finger don't have much room, and I also wish that I had put alittle more curve in the handle. The bottom line is too straight, and I think that it takes something away from the knife.

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Posted

Thanks for the kind words, I'm carrying it with pride. I'm making a small dagger/over grown boot knife out of the same cable, I'm tring a hidden tang on that one.

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