I am on my 2nd damascus blade ( the first one worked ) and I have put a ridiculous amount of folds in this thing ( over 1300 ) and I can't get the pattern to come out this time. It's cold outside so I brought the acid indoors this time and put it in a room that is almost 80 degrees. Dry sanded my piece with 1200 grit, cleaned with iso 99% and wore gloves, used the same acid I did the first knife in, which I keep in a ABS tube I put together that is sealed, never touched the blade with my bare fingers and dipped in muriatic acid for 15 min. Then it went into a water and baking soda mix for 5 min and got wiped down. It comes out almost solid grey with streaks going through it. You can see the beginning of a pattern in some spots but it is very faint. What have I done wrong?????????????????? I am going out for a fresh jug of acid.
Hi Tom, You might be soaking in the acid too long. Try shorter etch periods, say a minute or two, followed by a rinse in clean water and a light cleaning with 0000 steel wool or 1200 sand paper. Repeat until you like the etch depth. I use acetone for a final clean and ferric chloride for the etch but iso and muriatic should work. You should still be getting a decent etch in cool weather - I just test etched a billet two days ago and a ten second dip gave a clear pattern. Magnus
The big problem is TO MANY LAYERS after about 300 layers the the pattern becomes nearly impossible to see,it just all blends together. Ladder and raindrop patterns should have about 180 layers.
you are 100% right. The pattern is so fine and packed together that it is hard to see and at a glance, it looks like a dirty blade.
