Cleaning Damascus

[tudurgs]

Am new to the Board. Have a folding damascus pocket knife which has lost its color and definition. What can I use to clean it, and make the damascus "pop"?

Thanks.

[Ray Rogers]

It doesn't sound like it needs cleaning, it sounds like it needs to be re-etched. That could be as simple as rubbing a little vinegar on it. That will bring out the pattern a little but it won't make it 'pop'. To do that, you'll need to learn how to prepare the steel using very fine sandpaper and degreasng it. Then, the blade is bathed in a ferric chloride solution, rinsed, dried.....maybe several times. To do this without the ferric chloride damaging the rest of the knife the blade should be removed from the knife first.

The Search key will help you find most of the literally hundreds of discussions of the various ways that we use to etch damascus ....

[Don Halter]

If it was a polished/smooth surface to begin with that was black/white, it may have been a pure nickel/carbon steel mix that was blued as opposed to etched, and the bluing has just rubbed off.

[Mike Turner]

How about a pic so these guys are not guessing?

[dave borman]

I am new to this forum and don't know if I am in the right place or not. I make knives from damascus blades from many sources. Occationally, i get a very small scratch, talking hairline yet bright, on the blade and was wondering how to cover it up without re-etching the whole thing. Is there any solution to this?

[Ray Rogers]

Dave,

Maybe - just maybe - you can put some diluted ferric chloride on a Q-Tip and dab at the scratch. If the FC gets in there it may color it enough to hide it somewhat, depending on whether or not it can blend with the overall pattern. But, there is only one way to guarantee that the scratch is invisible and that is to sand it out and re-etch the blade. As a rule of thumb, etching will not hide scratches if anyone really looks at the blade ...

[dave borman]

Thanks for the tip. I thought of that but was afraid to try it on a finished knife. This is a case where prevention is worth a pound of cure. I will try it but maybe not on a finished knife. I have an old blade to try it on. Thanks again, Dave