Diferential,or zone,hardening.

G

ghostsix

BANNED
Joined
Oct 3, 1998
Messages
1,490
There is an easy way to read this,acid etch the blade.This also makes an attractive temper line.Don`t try this if you don`t know what you are doing,but the acid darkens the softer steel more,and tells you what you have.Nitric,or sulfuric can be used,but they come USP,and must be diluted to SG.Whatever you do,don`t add the water to the acid.It will spatter.

------------------
 
... and BEFORE you do this, decide on how you plan to DISPOSE of the acid afterwards...

(i.e., not down the drain or toilet -- you'll be hating life in the near future!...)

I believe the local fire dept can dispose of it, or let you know where. you can also bury it in a deep hole, but be SURE it won't run into the local water sources...
 
COLOR.and the difereation threof.The 58 Rc will be white.The softer steel will be shaded of gray.Again,do not try this at home.

------------------
 
Even breathing acid is dangerous. If you have not handled them before find someone who has. As a warning, in one of the first chemistry labs I did, one of the students could not get the experiment to run as expected and called over a demonstrator. The idiot took up the beaker and smelled it. The loud scream, tears and all around panic made everyone be very careful the rest of the year.

-Cliff
 
If you are near a U.,the Chem.Dept. will help you.Make that a small U.As I said,don`t try this without proper gear and training.

------------------
 
I know people who polish modern Japanese style swords to get the temper line. They use ferric chloride (PC board etchant from Radio Shack) dilluted 1 part per 3 or 4 parts water. This will turn the blade black. Sand paper with progressively fine grit is used until you finish up with 2000-2500 grit paper. 3-1 micron diamond paste is sometimes used as a last touch. (This is not always neccessary especially if it's your first try)

I've never done this before so all this is second hand information. Will give it a shot soon.

Khukuris being made most likely of 5160 steel and edge quenched not clay tempered will not give a great temper line. But some should be there.
 
Another cool thing to do with an engraved one,is to blue it.If you don`t like the blue,you can take it off with 0000 steel wool,and the engraving will have the contrasting color.

------------------
 
Ghost: I had thought of that, and was thinking of trying it when the WWIIIs are blued. Or, what about a blued blade with gold leaf rubbed into the engraving? That'd be real nice, albeit sort of "pimp-ish."

Craig.
 
I do not think that gold,or silver,if blued would be too garish.If you really want to do enlay right,however,it requires undercutting to hold the enlay.

------------------
 
Experience tells me that ferric cloride works well for etching, even on stainless damascus (from Damasteel, Sweden). But to my knowledge it is the hardened steel, or at least the harder steel in a damascus billet, that turns out darker. By the way, you don't have to undercut your engraving to inlay with gold leaf. Just a little oil in the inlayd parts will suffice to hold the gold nearly for forever. I learned this lesson from my sister, who is a professional restaurator.

Achim
 
That is not my experiance.I just heard of some idiot putting acid in aluminum.Please read a chem. book,or talk with a Chem.Proff. before fooling with this very dangerous stuff.Save yourself some pain.Acid burns are not fun.
 
That`s inlay,right?I`m at a loss to understand how oil would help hold it in the engraving.Gold leaf is not that costly,you could have some fun with it.

------------------
 
There is a much easier (and safer!)way to go about getting an etch than with the dangerous acids. Use warmed up apple cider vinegar. It truly works! Put a pot of vinegar in your oven and heat it up to where it is a little uncomfortable to touch. Once it is up to heat pull the pot out on the oven rack and place your "cleaned" blade into the pot, Blade only of course. Let the blade sit in the vinegar for about 5 to 10 minutes, then pull it out and take some comet or ajax and a little block of wood with leather attached to it and "sand" off the black residue. While you are getting rid of the residue put the pot back into the oven to keep the vinegar warm. You will have to do this several times to start to see a temperline, but once you begin to notice the temperline you can make it as bold or as understated as you like. Hope this helps.
 
Of course, if you really want to simplify the process, you can just rub regular old non-toxic lemon juice on the blade and let it sit for awhile. I do this on all my Khuks to bring out the temper so I have a visual reference as to where the "sweet spot" is on the blade. And do yourself a favor; go to Wal-Mart, go to the automotive department, buy a can of "Mothers Mag and Alluminium polish". It'll take off the black oxidation from the lemon juice and restore that showroom shine we all love so much.It also does the same for the brass and the horn handles. Just my $0.02, if you really want to play with acid you have fun with that.
smile.gif
 
If you're looking to dispose of acid just add a butt-ton of baking soda to the mix and wait a bit. When it's all said and done you'll have a harmless salt and HOH.

------------------
Mykl
Once you start down the path of the sharp side forever will it dominate your destiny
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top