Blues Damascus bolster

Hi,
I am curious as to how you do this. I have seen several examples of this done and it looks wonderful. Dogman just posted a knife in the for sale by maker forum " Damascus Loveless Style NY Special" that has them. Do you have to etch the damascus when you buy it or can you blue them straight out of the UPS box? What is the best way to blue them?

Thanks,
Dan

If I remember correctly, the knife you are talking about had the bolsters screwed on. I don't know how Bob did it but I would assume he did it similar to this:

Make the Knife and mount the bolster on with screws.
Mount the handle material on with screws.
Grind bolster and handle material down to match knife profile.
Grind entire surface of bolster and handle to desired shape.
Polish bolsters and handle material to final polish.
Remove bolsters and etch in Ferric Chloride (or other etchant) to get desired texture (depth of etch).
Clean bolsters and wash with soap and water, then acetone.
Put bolsters in oven and heat to turn them blue.
Lightly sand the "TOPS" with 1500 grit sand paper to remove the blueing, giving contrast with the blued steel.
Install on knife with NEW screws.

Thanks Bob, now I have a couple more questions.
What temp in the kitchen oven? Is the Eggerling damascus stainless? I have experimented a couple times with using a propane torch on some 440C barstock I have. All I managed was to turn it golden brown with a slight rainbow of blue to it. I will say I haven't tried on anything polished though.
Thanks for the info!!
Dan

Eggerling damascus is carbon and nickel. Some patterns are just carbon. What I did with those bolsters is heat blue them. The blade is etched. I use screws on the fancy fixed blades so I can easily remove and work on the parts. heat blueing looks best on parts that are mirror polished, which is what I did to the bolsters. Once they are 100% complete, I cleaned them up with acetone (don't touch them once they are clean), and set them on a folded sheet of aluminum foil with the ends turned up so I can carry them easily. Pop them in the oven at around 500 degrees. Watch them close...they will start turning a straw color, then purple then blue. You can pull them out of the oven at any time if you want a different color. You also might have to take the temp up to 525...it just depends on the particular piece of steel. Damascus with different types of carbon will give you a mix of colors because they heat and color at different rates. No finishing required after that except to protect them with oil or Ren wax. It is good for decorative bolsters, but I would not recommend it for blades, especially user blades, as it can destroy the temper.

Thanks for the info. That knife is simply awesome. I would have to say it is one of the best looking I have seen. The way the grind sort of flows with the damascus blade is incredible.
Dan