Picked up a few Old Hickory kitchen knives and decided to try a vinegar etch on them. I wanted to do this for two reasons, one I had never tried a vinegar etch and two hoping to increase the rust resistence. Old Hickory are notorious for rusting if you look at them wrong. They were etched for 24 hours in plain white household vinegar. They were wiped off then hand sanded with 1500 wet/dry to remove the excess etch.
Does the etch color look correct? I am not convinced the steel took a good etch.
Unfortunately the vinegar wicked up the blade and into the wood, turning a portion of the wood black. This occured even after sealing the wood with a Danish Oil finish. Several coats of Danish Oil finish were applied to the handles with sandings in between. I finsished with a final sanding at 1500 and a hand rub. A final coat of Briwax was applied. Even the cheap wood on the handles turned out fairly decent and glass smooth to the touch.
The metal has been wiped down in a mixture of pharmicutical grade mineral oil and carnuba wax. About 2 oz. of oil to 3 pinches of carnuba flakes. This produces an oily wax that wiped down nicely and seemed to fill the etch grain well. I made a patch saturated in the mixture for my wife to use after washing the knives in the kitchen. I like the mixture so well that I made a slightly less oily version, by adding more wax, for use on my pocket knives.
Fun experiment anyway. If anyone can tell me if the etch looks correct I would appreciate it.
Best, Lee