Sanding handle of an etched full-tang knife

[FatFrumos]

Hi.  I started a build of a full-tang kwaiken, and this is the first full-tang knife I made that I'm planning to etch in ferric chloride.  I was wondering what's the best way to approach handle sanding.  On a regular (non-etched) knife, I would shape the handles, glue them on and sand them along with the part of the tang sandwiched between the scales.  However, if it's etched and I do this, I'll end up scratching the etching off.

So far, the two approaches I thought of are:

1) Glue handles with a weak glue, shape them, sand them, take them off, etch the knife, glue them back properly.

2) Glue them properly on an etched knife, sand them along with the tang, and thus removing the etching, pour several drops of ferric chloride on the tang to restore the etching.

The first method makes more sense to me, but I was wondering if there is some other, standard way of doing something like this.

Thank you!

Luka