Over the years I have had a number of different blades with plating, usually chrome plating, but on a couple of occasions I seem to recall it was nickel.
In all cases I dismounted the blade and gave it to a plater to reverse the process and remove the plating.
In all cases the removal was totally satisfactory.
After the plating had been removed I did a light polish with wet and dry paper and etched.
The results of the etching were not always all that pleasing. On a couple of occasions I finished up with truly excellent blades of mechanical damascus and another of wootz; some khukris had blades that were composed of haphazardly welded bits and pieces; a couple of blades were mild steel or iron with no pattern at all. One jambiya was revealed as total junk--- the rib down the middle of the blade was a line of electric welding.
If the plating on this Bhutan blade were to be removed it could be a win, or it could be a loss.
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