Polishing AEB-L and 304 SS Damascus

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Jan 24, 2016
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How would this Damascus hold up to polishing? The blade is coarse but when I ran over the bevel with cotton wrapped around a lansky hone it seems to have polished quite nicely a little bit on the pattern. Would polishing the whole blade remove the raindrop pattern?
 
If using abrasive compound of any kind for polishing damascus, the contrasting etch would be removed or greatly muted. The 'texture' of the pattern may still be seen, but the bright & dark contrasting pattern would essentially be lost, as the polishing compound abrades the darkly-etched oxide away. The blade would have to be re-etched in acid, to restore the contrasting pattern.

EDIT:
I learned the hard way, with a Buck Custom Shop 110 in damascus & stag. I 'cleaned up' the blade with some Simichrome polish after I received it, and the eye-popping pattern went a uniform 'gray' in appearance after that. It's still an attractive blade, and the texture of the damascus is visible; but it doesn't look so obviously 'damascus' anymore.

If 'polishing' with a coating type of finish (wax, etc) that isn't abrasive, the dark oxide would be preserved and the pattern wouldn't be lost as a result.
 
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