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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 05-13-2014, 08:26 AM
dwc34205 dwc34205 is offline
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Can you etch after handles go on?

I am curious to know if you can etch a blade after handles go on. I have etched several blades but last night I did my first one that had bolsters. There was a slight amount of shift in the bolsters and I now have a little bit of a ridge between the handle material and the bolster. I am wondering if anyone has any tricks on how to clean this up. I thought about trying to sand the spine all the way around and then mask the bolster and handle material then etch. I am using damascus with stabilized box elder burl and 4oo series bolsters.
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Old 05-13-2014, 08:50 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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In similar situations I dip a Q-Tip in the ferric chloride and then rub it into the affected area. The etchant won't harm the stainless and it probably won't do anything to the wood either as long as we're talking about professionally stabilized wood and not home brew ....


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Old 05-13-2014, 09:19 AM
dwc34205 dwc34205 is offline
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Excellent! Thanks Ray. The wood came from WSSI so it is quality. I did a test on one of the scrap pieces from the box elder and the only thing it did was turn it a little yellow. 400 grit sandpaper took it off quickly. The SS got a little cloudy, but it is going to have sctch brite finish so that will go away easily too. Thanks for the tip.
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Old 05-13-2014, 11:03 AM
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A wipe down with Renaissance Wax will also usually remove the discoloration from the metal and the wood...


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Old 05-13-2014, 04:18 PM
damon damon is offline
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You can mask off areas not to etch with sharpie marker, or nail polish.
Then after etch, acetone will take it right off.
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Old 05-14-2014, 10:18 AM
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SVanderkolff SVanderkolff is offline
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You can also paint the wood with vaseline which will stop the etchant from getting in and is fairly easy to then remove from the wood with a bit of soap and water.
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Old 09-08-2014, 11:31 AM
dwc34205 dwc34205 is offline
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I have a follow up question to etching blades. Well a couple of questions.

I have had good success at etching 154CM and typically get a nice charcoal finish prior to tumble. However recently the blades have been coming out of the etch with a rust color and not as dark. I should add that I was etching 154 with a nondiluted ferric chloride. I have recently diluted it to a 50:50 mix. Another item to add is that I have etched 52100 in the same solution. Is it possible that mixing higher carbon with lower carbon steels in the same solution causing the problem? Am I not getting the same dark etch becasue I have diluted the FC.
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Old 09-09-2014, 07:17 AM
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Diluting the ferric it will give the same etch it will just take longer. As for the rust color , have you etched any brass or copper ? That will cause the ferric to discolor. It doesn't take much to discolor the ferric.


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Old 09-09-2014, 03:11 PM
dwc34205 dwc34205 is offline
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I have not. I have only etched 154CM and 52100 in it. I will try to post a picture later of what the end result looks like.
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