Thread: Little different approach to a restore

Thanks very much Neil, I also posted there. I'd be happy to share my process. The before pics are from the seller, and it's not real clear but the blade was originally polished or satin finish, but had extremely dulled. After I stripped the scale and liners I went over the whole blade with a small scotch-brite buff wheel in a die grinder. Got it all down to clean "parent" steel and then washed it well in acetone. Next I prepared a small pan of water on the stove with the range hood on high. I heated the water up to just below boiling and placed a small plastic container of phosphoric acid just large enough to submerge the full blade in the water. Prior to etching the blade I measured the thickness of the blade just behind the bevel and found it to be .007" - .008" thick. Donned a pair of nitrile gloves and dropped the blade in for about 5 minutes, then washed it in clean water and used #000 steel wool to remove the particulates/reactants. Measured behind the edge again to see how much had been removed, then repeated the process. Kept going until I got where I wanted to be thickness wise (.003" - .004") then grabbed the blade and scrubbed it with the #000 steel wool soaked in phosphoric acid to remove the particulates again to help even out the finish and remove any irregularities/streaks. Gave it a final wash in baking soda and water to neutralize the acid, then got to work with the hones and stropped. Afterwards I oiled the blade and wiped it clean. Now it has a very nice dull matte grey finish except where the hones did their work.

I picked this up for the scales:


I'm planning on red liners with a black wedge and brass washers and pins.