ok so black etch and to mirror or not?

K guys. I got 2 questions for the group. I took today and worked on 2 blades. 1 is a 6/8 Bengall and 1 is a 7/8 W&B and I am going to sell them. They were supposed to be mine but the keeping the job thing is going badly and I need to pay for my car. SO here is the questions. 1 how do I fill in the black in the blade etch and 2 should I mirror the W&B or leave it original cause it is in amazing shape for W&B. It has some hone wear but the blade has all the original grinding marks in and only some tiny spots unlike almost every other W&B to pass through my hands in this size. So what do you guys think? Oh and check out the finish on that bengall!!!

Probably just leave thw W&B alone... its just fine as is. And I think C Utz has some tricks for filling the coloring back in on the etching. Try giving him a PM!

I vote for the W&B to be left as is.

Another +1 on leaving the W&B as is.
There are a lot of ways to redo the etching. If you want it like "new", I believe they originally used acid to etch the designs. Otherwise the 9 volt battery and salt water technique works well (I lost the link, but surely someone has it bookmarked)

OK I don't think you understand what I am saying. The etch is fine. I need to know what black substance ranging from paint to boot polish people put in the blades with deep etching that were originally blacked for contrast

The black coloration from etching is due to the oxides formed when etching with chemicals. The steel is forced to rust with an acid or by electric current, thus removing steel and replacing it with oxides.

The markings on the blades you're showing are not etched, but rather engraved/stamped. If you want to fill them in, use nail polish, then lightly scrub with acetone after it dries to clean the edges and leave the crevaces filled. Shoe polish will dry, shrink and fall out (tried that once).

I don't think either of these blades were originally, purposely colored for contrast. They were just darker due to polishing techniques.

Yeah Chris, leave that W&B as is! Looks great!

Personally, I think they look great 'as is'!

I PM'd you on how I add black to the etch. It's very similar to how "floppyshoes" (Dan) described.....

C utz

Cool. I have several of these bengalls and they all have etch that is black in the blades as well as a Joseph Allen with the same etch as some of the bengalls and they are also blacked. So back to original it goes after the polish.