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Old 6th February 2008, 07:21 PM   #25
Ferguson
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Kernersville, NC, USA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RSWORD
It would appear that this blade is laminated. I have seen similar "patterns" on barong blades from the Philippines. The real open pattern, I believe, is from minimal folding of the blade.
Rick, you're the man when it comes to wootz and pattern welded steel. Let me throw out another possibility. My first time etching a blade looked like that. I didn't degrease it properly and the vinegar beaded up. Could that be what we're seeing? I found that cleaning the blade with acetone or alcohol prior to etching, and adding a drop of dishwashing liquid to the vinegar caused the vinegar to wet the blade better.

I could be way off though, and that could be the actual pattern in the steel.

Steve
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