Etching with iron(III)chloride hexahydrate

[kai]

Hello Martin,

I hope covering of gilding with zapon lacquer will be sufficient.

Well, gilding on an iron blade (koftgari and even inlay) changes the game dramatically: Be very, very careful! If in doubt, better do nothing or just stabilize any active rust rather than doing harm by irreversible actions.

If a blade with koftgari/etc. has not been cared well for, chances are that you'll loose some or even all of the gold by removing rust that may have developed below the koftgari and even next to the inlay.

Please post close-ups of the piece of interest and I'm sure the specialists can give you some pointers. This really needs to be explored on a case by case basis; and with lots of patience and expertise!

Is there slight polish necessary after the final short etch (and neutralization), or this final polish would destroy the optical result ?

Again, this depends on several variables - Jens gave already an example.

In general, polishing after the etch will result in lower contrast; buffing a protective topping of renaissance wax may be enough to get the blade shiny. In a perfect world, you'd not have to polish again if the etch was spot on: better etch a bit too shortly rather than too long resulting in a dull blade.

Regards,
Kai

[spiral]

Protect the kofgari areas with wax,{melted then solidified.} then just etch the unprotected areas with a repeated brush wipe, rather than risking dipping.

I don't like Fc myself, I prefer sulphuric,, lemon, vinegar & pineapple mostly, but FC is very popular on this forum.

Only etch when you have uninterrupted time, turn your phone off & don't answer the door!

spiral

[Martin Lubojacky]

Thank you all for your (for me) very important advices and Good Lucks !

Unfortunately, miracle did not take place and I found out that the blade was made of, I would say, normal steel (there was some parallel lamination, but always accompanied with relatively deep pitting, so I better polished it again after three very quick attempts.

Very important was the piece of info from Spiral "to have uninterrupted time, turn your phone off & don't answer the door!". But when I cut my finger and the result was not "slightly yellowish", but "reddish", it was like phone ringing and at the door knocking etc altogether.

This is also the sword from this thread: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=19145
And Here are the requested close ups - but as I said, no "damascus".
Thanks once more
Martin

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Martin Lubojacky

Very important was the piece of info from Spiral "to have uninterrupted time, turn your phone off & don't answer the door!". But when I cut my finger and the result was not "slightly yellowish", but "reddish", it was like phone ringing and at the door knocking etc altogether.

And Here are the requested close ups - but as I said, no "damascus".

Ahh that's only flesh though... that heals... the blade is what matters!

Mmmm so the hilt straps are re built by the same chap who made the scabbard it seems?

If blade was mine Id give it a little go with pineapple juice to see if that brings anything else out.... not all etchants work equally on all blades in my experience.

spiral

[A. G. Maisey]

Here are three knives that I made.

My apologies for the slight reddish cast, these are super-quick pics and I'm wearing a red checked shirt.

The blades are mechanical damascus, the Marbles ripoff is 01+mild, the puuko and the trout/bird are 01+mild+nickel.

The topographic etch was done with hydrochloric acid (pool acid).

The colour stain was done with ferric chloride (FeCl3 - 42%).

After the colour stain they were let sit with a brushed on slurry of bicarbonate of soda for about 10 minutes, this was washed off, they were thoroughly dried and sprayed with WD40.

They were all brought to a high hand polish prior to the topographic etch, and polished again before the colour stain.

After the colour stain with ferric chloride they were lightly polished with worn 1200 W&D paper, then 0000 steel wool.

They were then sprayed with WD40, allowed to dry overnight and waxed with Antiquax.

The stain job was done over the laundry tub with a glass of ferric chloride and a toothbrush, the water was left running, the ferric chloride was continually applied and washed off until the colour I wanted was reached.

They were made about 20 years ago and have been sitting in a drawer wrapped in cloth since then, which I think demonstrates that we can store blades for extended periods unattended if the preparation is correct.

I've etched and stained more damascus, like this stuff shown, than I can count. I've cleaned and stained more keris and other SE Asian blades than I can count. I've never stained any Indo-Persian blades, but I cannot imagine that the process would be much different to that of staining any other mechanical damascus. Wootz might require a different technique, I don't know about this stuff, I've never cleaned nor stained it.

Pineapple juice, when it is good, is a great cleaning agent. It is a lousy etchant and a lousy staining medium.