Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

blue lander · 24th October 2014, 08:46 PM

I etched the blade. I used citric acid rather than FeCL this time, and it worked a lot better. It takes much longer for the acid to work, but you have much more control over the process and the results are better.

Interesting that nearly 1/3rd of the blade seems to be hardened especially around the belly. I wonder if there's some advantage for having so much hardened steel behind the impact point, or if it's just so you can sharpen it more times before you hit the soft stuff.

Edit: You can't really see it in the pictures, but I think there's another quench line much closer to the edge. Perhaps the cutting edge is tempered extra hard with somewhat less hardened steel behind it, followed but unhardened steel for the "body" and spine of the knife.

24th October 2014, 08:46 PM	#9
blue lander Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 456	I etched the blade. I used citric acid rather than FeCL this time, and it worked a lot better. It takes much longer for the acid to work, but you have much more control over the process and the results are better. Interesting that nearly 1/3rd of the blade seems to be hardened especially around the belly. I wonder if there's some advantage for having so much hardened steel behind the impact point, or if it's just so you can sharpen it more times before you hit the soft stuff. Edit: You can't really see it in the pictures, but I think there's another quench line much closer to the edge. Perhaps the cutting edge is tempered extra hard with somewhat less hardened steel behind it, followed but unhardened steel for the "body" and spine of the knife. Attached Images Last edited by blue lander; 24th October 2014 at 09:32 PM.