dps9999 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 hey guys so look i made my first attempt at damascus 1080 and 15n20 by no means was it easy and by no means is it perfect...now when it was still a billet i etched it. i was being impatient at first i did what every one told me dillute ferric and go...first there was no pattern just a grayish blackish mess ( i didnt know it was supposed to be sanded down...corrected that problem so tried again i got some what of a pattern but not much. i watched a video of some kid with 3 damascus pieces and he took one it ferric one in muriatic and one in sulfuric...i think the muriatic came out best so i ran out got some muriatic sanded the billet a little and diluted the muriatic and i got a distinct pattern finally (not the best as far as patterns go but now at least whats there is showing up).ok now i shaped that billet did the heat treat got the handle ready to go on so time to etch again...i went right to the muriatic a pattern showed up but it was more like a holigram you could only see on certain angles...i thought what am i doing different BINGO when it was a billet before the muriatic i dunked it in ferric and lightly sanded when it didnt come out good. so back to the ferric.....horible its 90% black lil bit of silver here and there but the most part i mean JET black....so lightly sanded and back to muriatic and this time nothing it didnt brighten it up and make it distict like last time i am lost i spent almost 2 hours trying different dilutions diferent soak times different levels of sanding every thing i did every thing to copy what i did last time and its like the muriatic (that last time really brightend things up ) just doesnt react the same way i cant figure it out guys ANY advice would really help i would REALLY apreciate it.. i know its the first one i did and it aint going to be the best pattern but the first time there was a pattern now most of it is JET black with a few silver stripes and circle here and there but NO WHERE near what it was....well any way thanks to any one who can help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J.watts Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I use ferric chloride diluted 6:1, soak 20 sec, scrub with 0000 steel wool, clean (I use Windex) and repeat till the pattern shows. I also sand to atleast 800 before etching. After the etch hand polish with mothers or some other metal polish. Do that till you get the finish you want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dps9999 Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 Thanks T.J. it helped i think the steel wool made a big difference than using fine sand paper....I ended up doing a mix between dipping in ferric and muriatic. the muriatic (diluted) it come out alot brighter. If you only keep it in for a minute its actually similar to a hologram where you can only see it at certain angles. If it stays in longer it gets a bit more contrast but still alot brighter than the ferric. The ferric comes out very black but as soon as i hit it very lightly with very fine sand paper the blackness goes away. I played around going back and forth between the 2 until i got what i wanted. I am curious about one thing if you use ferric do you sand (again very high grit) right away after its cleaned or wait a while? One of the reasons i used both is because when i went to sand after ferric i wanted to get rid of some of the black not all but 95% of the black came off. But after i finished (of course) i came across a video where the guy cleaned, and let it sit for a few hours before using sand papper he said it let the black set in so it doesnt all get sanded of only some. Is anyone familliar with this technique and does it work?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Hello: etching doesn't have to be all that difficult..I soak mine for 45 mins to an hour and a half in 1/2% ferric chloride (depending upon the ambient temp) clean off with baking soda, oil and then lightly buff on a sisal wheel using black grease compound (emery) and I get this result.. I am not one to go into all sorts of elaborate methods unless they are needed.. Just remember..99% of the time a slow etch is much more attractive than a fast and aggressive one..At least for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayakersteve Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Dont know why, but my damascus etches way better after heat treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J.watts Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I don't sand after the etch I just polish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J.watts Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 JPH, does the emery compound not leave scratches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 4 hours ago, T.J.watts said: JPH, does the emery compound not leave scratches? I'm thinking it's rouge fine grade. Emery is an abrasive, it's grade is how aggressively it cuts regardless of the abrasive. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J.watts Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 I was wondering because I have some black stick compound and it will leave scratches so I stopped using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Hello: I don't know what you all are using but the black emery I get from Jantz is like 600 grit and I use it for EVERYTHING from bronze, steel, horn, ivory and everything else...no problems at all... I get a very smooth and clean finish.. I am not one to polish anything up to a mirror unless I HAVE to... IF you are getting scratches I would suspect that you have some contamination with something that shouldn't be there. JPH the att. pic is a 1095 dagger buffed with the black emery on a sisal wheel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.J.watts Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 That's why, the last blade I used it on was already at 800 so that explains the scratches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffrat Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 800 is a very fine finish and it doesn't have to be that fine to etch well. I usually stop at 400 grit before etch. Like JPH, I use a longer etch time, my ferric is 1:3 (acid to water) and I agitate with a fish tank bubbler. For some reason, Ferric leaves the simple carbon steels a lot darker than the nitric or hydrochloric acids (muriatic is hydrochloric acid). Some guys like the high contrast, others not so much. Rubbing with steel wool will get into the deeper etched parts of the blade and leave you with less contrast. This can be returned by bluing the blade. Looking at the pics, JPH gets a very deep etch and the pattern is clearly visible, even though there is little contrast. Here is a similar etch to what JPH does in terms of time except I do 2-3 installments of 10-15 minutes each and wipe off the residue in between. Then I clean the blade and cold blue it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Sells Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 cliffrat, I really like that pattern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliffrat Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Thanks Steve. It's a W pattern, or as some guys call it, a double-U pattern. Started with a 20-something billet of 1095 & 15N20, but I can't remember how many times I did the cut & Stack. Memory ain't what it used to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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