Rare Bhutanese short sword for comment

Justin · 10th June 2005, 05:08 PM

Thank you all for your comments.

dennee,you just tripled what I knew about these swords, thanks very much!

Tom:The blade does seem to have a differentially hardened edge and thats a very big reason I wanted to etch it,I doubt the pattern will be great but it will stand out much more than if its not etched.

As to etching the blade,and damaging patina.I rarely leave any 'patina' or anything else on the blade,my goal being to keep my swords in as close to original condition as possible.I think the etch among other things actually helps prevent the blade from rusting and in the proccess of the etch the acidusually cleans the rust out of the pitting in the blade leaving it virtually free of all rust.Further more,Im careful when wetching to not over do it,I generally use lemon juice or very very dilute muriatic acid,like tom said if etched lightly it doesnt take much to take it off.

tom hyle · 11th June 2005, 12:43 AM

As long as you don't go too too deep, etching is pretty much a surface thing. So it depends, I guess, on how much you like the current surface and how comfortable you are surfacing/polishing things in general, or swords from a given culture. (just addressing the issue general, as Justin has pretty clearly stated his intent, and I for one am not at all interested in trying to argue him out of it). Pretty good point that the dark patinas many of us (including me) enjoy are not the original surface, either, and wouldn't be approved of in the original culture, in many cases; in fact "rusty junk" is a very usual dismissive charactarization by N Americans of the kind of blades I seek out. I love it though; if everyone wanted old black swords I wouldn't be able to get them, probably.

10th June 2005, 05:08 PM	#1
Justin Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 182	Thank you all for your comments. dennee,you just tripled what I knew about these swords, thanks very much! Tom:The blade does seem to have a differentially hardened edge and thats a very big reason I wanted to etch it,I doubt the pattern will be great but it will stand out much more than if its not etched. As to etching the blade,and damaging patina.I rarely leave any 'patina' or anything else on the blade,my goal being to keep my swords in as close to original condition as possible.I think the etch among other things actually helps prevent the blade from rusting and in the proccess of the etch the acidusually cleans the rust out of the pitting in the blade leaving it virtually free of all rust.Further more,Im careful when wetching to not over do it,I generally use lemon juice or very very dilute muriatic acid,like tom said if etched lightly it doesnt take much to take it off.

11th June 2005, 12:43 AM	#2
tom hyle Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 1,254	As long as you don't go too too deep, etching is pretty much a surface thing. So it depends, I guess, on how much you like the current surface and how comfortable you are surfacing/polishing things in general, or swords from a given culture. (just addressing the issue general, as Justin has pretty clearly stated his intent, and I for one am not at all interested in trying to argue him out of it). Pretty good point that the dark patinas many of us (including me) enjoy are not the original surface, either, and wouldn't be approved of in the original culture, in many cases; in fact "rusty junk" is a very usual dismissive charactarization by N Americans of the kind of blades I seek out. I love it though; if everyone wanted old black swords I wouldn't be able to get them, probably.