[TheForge] Pattern Welded Steel

[Doug Ayen]

Quoth DanCruzan@aol.com (DanCruzan@aol.com):
> I'm looking for information from those who are familiar with pattern welded 
> steel. After the piece is etched what do you do to clean and polish the 
> piece? Do you use any kind of corrosion preventative like wax or perhaps 
> something else?
> 
> Dan Cruzan

You probably want to ask this sort of question to one of the knifemakers
forums, but what I do is grind and polish to about 400, clean thoroughly
with acetone to remove any oils, then etch in ferric choloride (available
from Radio Shack). Check the etch after a mintue to make sure you did 
a good job cleaning, then check the etch every 15 minutes or so, and when you 
have the right depth of etch for your pattern, take it out and wash off
the ferric chloride. I like to finish off the blade with a hand rub with
400 grit silicon carbide paper and oil, brings out the pattern pretty well,
and the oil prevents corrosion (I use Ballisol for most of my oiling needs
for this sort of thing.)

--doug