Hi, Kurt, Kubur, Roland and Marius, glad you like it. I am still a bit astounded that I managed to get it with my budget and I won't let it out of my sight for the forseeable future.
Roland,
as with my guinea pig shamshir, which I showed you a few months ago, I did a rub down with ~10% oxalic acid.
It was quite frustrating, I had to repeat the process several times, because as with that former piece, some parts of the blade, usually along the edge, did not take the etch. And this was not, as I thought before, due to a property of the steel or the forging/heat treatment, but due to an error in my cleaning/degreasing procedure. I am pretty sure that some fatty residue collects at the edge and sometimes in random spots, but I have not nailed the reason down yet. I found a workaround which kind of works, but it is not perfect and includes a lot of extra work that should not be necessary. I was planning to ask you for advice anyway, but I wanted to take a bit of a break first.
Marius,
you are right, the contrast is not extremely high, but I am not sure if the etchant is to blame. I etched an Indian tulwar with a persian style shamshir blade with the same solution and got a much better contrast.
I would love to try nital, but in Germany it is not easy to get as a private citizen. Also I am a bit wary of it, as it is a volatile substance. It should be safe at low concentrations, but I read that the alcohol can evaporate, which would increase the concentration and make it unsafe again, and I am not at all versed in chemistry.
I have added a picture of that shamshir blade with the better contrast, and the problem areas near the edge.
Cheers
|