I forged a blade from a chain saw chain, ground it, and heat treated it. I then did the final grind and cleaned it with acetone then etched it in Muratic Acid. The problem is the blade near the handle etched beatifully but the tip just turned a silver gray with no contrast. You can see the layers but not the contrasting black and silver like the rest of the blade. Any ideas what I may have done wrong. Thanks William

I don't know too much on this subject, but if I were to guess, I woud say the lack of contrast could be cause by carbon diffusion between the different steels if the tip was heated more times/longer then there would be less of a difference in carbon/alloying elements in that area of the blade since the more heats/longer heats etc. would allow more time for everthing to even out...

Do you have any pictures ?

The tip may not be as hard as the rest of the blade..check it with a file

Ive found with some cable damascus that the hardened portion of the blade has very little contrast and the unhardened parts pattern looks sharp and crisp. Ive never tried chain damascus but it might be the same scenerio

I have the best luck using Ferric chloride on chainsaw chains. Give it a try.