This one has got interesting all of a sudden. While cleaning the blade I decided to give a quick "wipe" to the edge to get rid of the serrations which were catching the emery paper and ripping it....the file just skidded over the edge without catching. Odd, but never mind, perhaps the blade was hardened and not tempered.
Some small pitting in the blade, so I decided to give it a vinegar dip, I have some Polish pickling vinegar at 10 percent solution...lovely for a quick and dirty job. I now have what looks like a longditudinal grain and a definate edge harden...not one that follows the edge though, a straight line as indicated on the pic below.
Still not got a camera allas, but I am seeing a friend during the week who has a good one, and will try to get some done.
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