cheflivengood
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2013
- Messages
- 1,253
- Reaction score
- 87
So it was about time to thin this monster, The way I had Mareko Grind the knife was to make it easier to do so, Similar to a kagekiyo wide bevel. I always Sharpie my work area to start, in this case there is zero High or low spots because maumasi is a beast, but I like to see the black along the primary bevel so I know where to focus most.
My Progression was JKI 220, 400s JNS 800, vitrified diamond 800, vintage aoto and I stopped there. Next I used red and grey scotch brite and flitz to clean up any scratches, with the integral its hard to hand sand/buff so patience is key. Next I used clear nail polish to mask the handle, then blue tapped over that for extra protection. I found this plastic pasta container on amazon that works well, and my etchent is 2/3 white vinegar to 1/3 Ferric Chloride. I did 3 5 Minute soaks with grey scotch bright in between, as a note I use the same 2"x1" piece of scotch brite throughout this process so it gets less aggressive over time.
At this point the Damascus has texture but the contrast can be better. I use a technique similar to parkerizing next, three 10 minute baths, in between the first 2 I use grey scotch brite and flitz, after that just a paper towel and flitz, and last just a damp papper towel and a lot of speed/friction. I got a really cool grey gun metal look on the 1084 and a very bright polish on the 15n20. Another interesting result is the knife did not show patina for a couple of days after this process, but finally started to rainbow today.
My Progression was JKI 220, 400s JNS 800, vitrified diamond 800, vintage aoto and I stopped there. Next I used red and grey scotch brite and flitz to clean up any scratches, with the integral its hard to hand sand/buff so patience is key. Next I used clear nail polish to mask the handle, then blue tapped over that for extra protection. I found this plastic pasta container on amazon that works well, and my etchent is 2/3 white vinegar to 1/3 Ferric Chloride. I did 3 5 Minute soaks with grey scotch bright in between, as a note I use the same 2"x1" piece of scotch brite throughout this process so it gets less aggressive over time.
At this point the Damascus has texture but the contrast can be better. I use a technique similar to parkerizing next, three 10 minute baths, in between the first 2 I use grey scotch brite and flitz, after that just a paper towel and flitz, and last just a damp papper towel and a lot of speed/friction. I got a really cool grey gun metal look on the 1084 and a very bright polish on the 15n20. Another interesting result is the knife did not show patina for a couple of days after this process, but finally started to rainbow today.
. I think you may be right, I thought it looked good but did one last bath to darken it up and used just the paper towel, I bought some .3 micron (12k grit) paper but it didn't have an effect by hand.
