First attempt at etching

[Kmaddock]

Next step was the etching
I pm'ed mariusgmioc after his recent post on etching to ask about the solution he used
I work in a lab so getting the natal solution he talked about was no problem.
I mixed up 500 ml of methanol with 20 ml of 70 percent nitric acid to produce a 4 percent solution.
I decided to rub on the enchant as I did not have a container deep enough and I did not want to use up too much solution as it can be hazardous to store.

In making up the solution it got slightly warm but if you add to much nitric the reaction can go too crazy and degrade the alcohol, giving off red fumes.
I was prepared if the solution degraded with 5 L of water to hand to dump the solution into

Gloves, goggles and lab coat were worn.

I washed blade with acetone to de grease it.

Then I rubbed the solution using a cotton swab and left to sit for 10 seconds

Then flushed with water in a sink

And dried with tissue

The process was repeated 3 times

Para film was used to protect the handle, this is a lab product like cling film

I could see the pattern emerging in 3 or 4 seconds

Nothing fancy compared to what I see on this forum but definitely a laminate blade, I think!
Results on the next post
Regards
Ken

[Kmaddock]

And finally what I have ended up with.
Slightly brown in places but I might have a go at polishing gently the whole blade later on.
Any comments advice welcome
Also if anyone can give an approx date on the knife I would be delighted to hear your opinions.
As I am in Ireland pictures in natural light are hard to get
Regards to all
Ken

[mariusgmioc]

Hello,

From what I see, you didn't polish the blade sufficiently. It should be up to grit 2000-3000 (mirror polish; some pitting here and there is acceptable but the surface between pits should be mirror polished).

Then try etching.

For lower contrast/difficult wootz I use "reversed etching." More exactly I strengthen my Nital by adding about 10-20% Perma Blue and apply the solution to obtain a uniform blackening of the whole blade. Then gently wipe off the excess black oxidation with cotton wool swabs and Pre-lim.

Good luck!

PS: Are you sure it is wootz?

[Kmaddock]

Hi Mariusgmioc
I do not think it is a Wootz blade
Just a standard laminate so the etching is probably as good as it will get
I enjoyed the learning experience all the same
ken

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by Kmaddock

Hi Mariusgmioc
I do not think it is a Wootz blade
Just a standard laminate so the etching is probably as good as it will get
I enjoyed the learning experience all the same
ken

If it is not wootz nor pattern welded, then why etching?!

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

If it is not wootz nor pattern welded, then why etching?!

Hello Marius,

laminated means pattern welded, but obviously without a specific pattern. I would call it "wild mechanical damascus".

Imho, just in my honest opinion, a salt like Iron(III)Sulfate or Sodium Persulfate may bring out more details from mechanical damascus than Nital. Nital also has a nasty tendency to penetrate deep into the surface.


Roland

[A.alnakkas]

Originally Posted by Roland_M

Hello Marius,

laminated means pattern welded, but obviously without a specific pattern. I would call it "wild mechanical damascus".

Imho, just in my honest opinion, a salt like Iron(III)Sulfate or Sodium Persulfate may bring out more details from mechanical damascus than Nital. Nital also has a nasty tendency to penetrate deep into the surface.


Roland

Roland, I quite like your restorations, could you post images as well?

Nice job, Ken! I need to get Nital.. very hard to get here >.<

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by Roland_M

Hello Marius,

laminated means pattern welded, but obviously without a specific pattern. I would call it "wild mechanical damascus".

Imho, just in my honest opinion, a salt like Iron(III)Sulfate or Sodium Persulfate may bring out more details from mechanical damascus than Nital. Nital also has a nasty tendency to penetrate deep into the surface.


Roland

Hey Roland,

Pattern welded is laminated but not all laminated is pattern welded.

Pattern weleded refers to multi-layered laminated steels of diferent compositions such that the resulted surface displays a specific pattern.

San-mai is laminated but not pattern welded (as it involves only three steels) for example.

Japanese Katanas have laminated but not pattern welded blades despite displaying even the characteristic patterns (Hada), as they do not empoy diferent steels with different compositions.

Also some modern blades like for example Helle or Mora knives do have laminated but not pattern welded blades.

So calling any laminate "Damascus" whether wild or domesticated is a little over-stretching in my oppinion.