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  #1  
Old 09-17-2016, 07:59 PM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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Etching question

Trying an experiment and I'm scratching my head now. The flats on these knives were unfinished after HT other than a light buff with a scotch brite to remove the HT scale. I did the final grinding of the bevels after HT. Then I etched with ferric choloride. The unfinished flats etched into the metal. Almost looks like a very fine sand blast finish...except where it just turned black, like the ground blade area. I really know nothing about etching. But I was wondering why the blades where they were ground post HT etched mostly a uniform black, but the unground areas etched a light grey, and actually "etched" the metal. And on those areas, it is partly black and partly not.
Wondering if anyone has any ideas?



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Old 09-17-2016, 08:02 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Just guessing because I always finished all of my blades but the unfinished areas probably had decarb on the surface and the ScotchBrite wasn't enough to get through it...


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Old 09-18-2016, 06:28 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ray Rogers View Post
Just guessing because I always finished all of my blades but the unfinished areas probably had decarb on the surface and the ScotchBrite wasn't enough to get through it...
This is most likely the culprit, plus differential in final finish (grit) before etching.
Test a scrap piece of same metal with diff. finished grits. Should help you understand what is happening. Also a lot of the hi carb steels will etch differently between hardened and unhardened areas of the steel - which explains the etch line on edge quenched blades.


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Old 09-18-2016, 06:32 AM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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Okay, so I guess, even without knowing or understanding the "why's", everything will have to be ground post HT to get even etching. I think I will go back and regrind the flats and finish the blades out.

Thanks Ray & Carl.


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Old 09-18-2016, 06:45 AM
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Just a ? - Did you quench the entire piece of steel or just the blade & ricasso area?
(like a good mystery)


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Old 09-18-2016, 12:43 PM
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I quenched the whole blade, edge first. 0-1 and 1095, both @1475 in 120 degree canola. Both steels had similar results.


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Old 09-18-2016, 06:30 PM
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Then should etch the same if finished the same.


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Old 09-20-2016, 08:30 AM
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I just went back and ground the flats down to 600 grit and ground the bevels as well to remove the etch. Not sure what results I was looking for with the etching, but that wasn't it.

Like I said, it was an experiment.

It is a few small EDC knives with minimal hand finishing. Thought the etching may give a dark finish, somewhat "tacticool". Ended up being more trouble than it was worth. Quicker to just take everything to 600 grit on the belt grinder then a satin finish with ScotchBrite.


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Old 09-20-2016, 10:01 AM
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Etching has different effects on different levels of finish (as you have now learned). The ferric chloride is also affected by how much you dilute it with distilled water. I use about a 50/50 mix.

To achieve the tacticool finish you want with a ferric chloride etch, grind to 120 and no further. You might hand sand at a sharp 120 to get your lines in a single direction before going into the FC, but that's personal choice.

The coarser the grind, the darker the etch on simple carbon steels.

The attached image is of a 1095 blade (differentially heat treated) ground to 120 and etched.
I used Windex to stop the etch, then water, dry it quickly, oil it, wipe it dry, then wax.


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Old 09-21-2016, 01:14 AM
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It's decarb from ht.. If I don't grind my 52100 blades all
Around (blade,choil etc) I see that pop up on etch. Grind/ sand those areas better. Better yet just ht the profile of the blade and grind the piss out of it then cut in the bevels. Problem solved.
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Old 09-21-2016, 05:25 AM
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If you want to remove decarb scale and get a lighter softer etch, switch to warmed distilled white vinegar. Much less aggressive and a whole lot cheaper plus eco-friendly.
I use a tall spheggtti jar and a spot lamp to warm it up. Just suspend the blade(s) on some ss wire and check every couple of hours while you are doing other necessary shop work. Scale will soften and come off with a small wire brush or sandpaper quite easily. Rinse, finish sand and give another soak for an hour or two.
Easy peasy and you don't have to worry about handling FeCl2.
By product of the vinegar is vinegaroon - which can be used to blacken veggie tan leather, high tannic level woods like red oak, and brown up older antler for handles. What's not to like?


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Old 09-21-2016, 10:10 AM
WNC Goater WNC Goater is offline
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Okay good info. I may go back and try one blade with an etch now that they are reground and all decarb should be ground away. Surprised at Andy's info to stop at 120 grit. That could save some time! Gonna try the vinegar etch as well. Thanks for all the info guys!


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Last edited by WNC Goater; 09-21-2016 at 10:12 AM.
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