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On hardened 1095 it is a dark gray but not jet black. It would give a color similar to the dark layers in a damascus blade.

Don't worry about it, man, if you want first crack at it, by all means...

Many knifemakers (when making damascus blades) use fingernail polish (enamel paint) in the recessed portion of their makers mark before etching to bring out the layered pattern, then they remove the...

Do you have a specific need for black steel that rules out using a patina?

There's also this method: Caswell Inc. - Black Oxide Kit

I mean, as long as you don't need to sand the surface very...

The dark color is from the etching process that makes one of the steels darker than the other because of alloying elements or carbon percentage that make the etching occur at different rates.
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