Can you have a Mirror finish and a good temper line?

I have a blade that has a good temper line. It is finished to 3 to 400 grit and I would like to take it to a mirror finish.

My ?? are

1, will I louse my temper line If I pollish to a mirror finish?

2, At witch stage in the sequence of sanding 400—2000 do I etch in ferric chloride???

3. am I asking to much??

Blade is forged 5160

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Yes you`ll lose it. Well I did when I tried it

You're going to lose your temperline when you start smearing the metal. If every stroke you make with the sandpaper is using fresh grit, you'll still be able to see the temperline because the grain is 'open.' That's a pain to do, and uses up ALOT of sandpaper, so most use an etch to open up the grain. The higher you polish, the more detail that will be seen in the etch (structure, grain,pearlite/martensite boundaries, etc.).

An etch will kill a mirror polish, and when you go back to the mirror polish you're smearing the surface again, so you wipe out the temperline. You can't have both.