Archaic kris for comment

[kai]

Hello Xas,

I'll be doing an FeCl etch in the near future- I'll update this thread by then with clear and close-up pics

I'm not a big fan of ferric chloride - etching with it tends to be quite brutal to the surface and it's acting so fast that fine structures tend to be missed.

If you intend to polish the blade anyway, a quick & dirty exploratory etch with FeCL3 could help to show some details before you start the actual polishing.

You need a good polish to reveal finer structures. And a gentle/slow metallurgical etch to bring out the details without dulling the surface. Arsenic trioxide used in a traditional rub-on fashion works as do a number of more available modern etchants. I'd probably lean towards warm sodium persulfate; I can't claim to have tested most etchants though - doing this side by side on a representative test piece is still on my ever-growing to do list.

Regards,
Kai