Etched monster in shokwood scales

This is a 17/16 monster razor, forged in SC145 steel. It was differentially heat treated, and etched afterwards. The etching in hot vinegar looked wonky so I decided to just dunk it in ferric chloride instead, and figure out how to properly etch this steel with some scrap. I have seen pics of it etched properly, and it shows nice patterns on the surface. At least, it does when etched properly. The ferric chloride makes the edge black, the soft bits grey, and the rest in between. This leads to a rather nice blackness gradient.

The scales are zombienight shokwood, which is purple and green acrylic, with impregnated burl cap.

Attachment 213373

Attachment 213374

Those scales look great!

Very nice,

I think that the 'dark' look is nice on this blade.

If honed without tape, the contrasting dark and shiny should be interesting.

As always your work is impressive. :tu

Looking great Bruno. That blade shape is very unique, and eye catching. I agree with Cuda, once a shiny edge is set on it, it will look even cooler!

The edge should be clearly visible almost like the reverse of the black sharpie technique.

Well done.
This Shokwood is my fav of what I have seen.

Another stunning razor Bruno. Well done!

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Originally Posted by Guidry

Those scales look great!

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I also liked, I agree with you.

nicely done! i especially like the thought you put into the scales, obviously selectively layed out to achieve the look here. sometimes aesthetic balance is overlooked completely, but you nailed it here!

That takes a lot of patience indeed. The vast majority of shokwood is unsuitable for scales if you care about aesthetic balance. Only one in 50 or so look good as scales, and then it needs to be available still. I have only a small amount of it in stock and buy what i can find. I tried contacting the manufacturer but so far i am not even getting an answer.

That's great work. Somebody is going to be very proud of that one.

Beautiful razor!
I agree with everyone about the scales.
That shockwood is awesome!
Keep trying with the manufacturer...it's well worth it.

Pete <:-}

Yeah, Shokwood is tough. I'm passing friends with the guy who makes it..and I'm constantly harassing him to sell to me direct lol. Buying through his vendors is tedious most of the time, and then the suitability comes into play. He told me he gets probably 20-40 emails a day about buying direct...so many that he finds it difficult to reply to them all. The stuff's so in demand though that it makes sense to sell direct to only a handful of vendors, and not have to mess with dealing with the public.

By the way, beautiful razor!!

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Originally Posted by CrisAnderson27

Yeah, Shokwood is tough. I'm passing friends with the guy who makes it..and I'm constantly harassing him to sell to me direct lol. Buying through his vendors is tedious most of the time, and then the suitability comes into play. He told me he gets probably 20-40 emails a day about buying direct...so many that he finds it difficult to reply to them all. The stuff's so in demand though that it makes sense to sell direct to only a handful of vendors, and not have to mess with dealing with the public.

By the way, beautiful razor!!

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Thanks for telling me. It's not so much that I mind buying from suppliers, it's just that for razor scales there are specific requirements.
Their site mentions that you can register as a vendor or reseller for specific purposes, but when I filled in a request (2 times) I didn't get a reply.

Very interesting and unusual ...
the result of etching in ferric chloride at different parts of hardened and non-hardened metal. This must be taken into account. You turned out very evenly

Wow
Another beauty for me to aspire to Bruno.
I love a lot of your work &the fact you're developing your own distinct style.
Keep up the good work my friend

Cheers Paul