Thread: How to etch damascus steel?

Hello gentlemen.
I have a question for you today. If you have a damscus steel razor, with a warped edge. So warped (not dramatically) you need to hone without tape to work a bit the spine and level the edge (to make all the edge touch the stone at the same time)...
Would it be possible to etch the damascus again to avoid having the wear spine in a different pattern (to eliminate the shinny wear line)
In that case... How can we etch the steel again? Acid again? Wich acid? and.. where to buy?
Thank you!

While I have never etched damascus steel, I've etched a whole bunch of stuff with Ferric Chloride (starting in school making printed circuits, and a happy summer when I discovered it'd etch aluminum too, all the way down to iron and steel... fun times!)

I like it because, unlike acid (btw, Hydrochloridic acid is what you want to etch blades) it's very slow, and won't eat your fingers. It will stain anything that comes in contact with that is not waterproof; ie. your fingers if you decide to go gloveless, wood tables, counters, stone... you get the idea.

Last bottle I got from Radio Shack, but you can buy it at any chemist's store, and it's not very expensive. To etch a blade I'd put some in a tall jar and dip the blade with a string through the hole and pull it out after 10 or so minutes to see the progress.

You could also tape the spine, I don't think it'd made such a large difference, but not being proficient at honing you can discount my opinion without guilt or any other ill effect.

Good luck.

As above works well,or Muriatic (pool acid) also works.

Originally Posted by zhivago

Hello gentlemen.
I have a question for you today. If you have a damscus steel razor, with a warped edge. So warped (not dramatically) you need to hone without tape to work a bit the spine and level the edge (to make all the edge touch the stone at the same time)...
Would it be possible to etch the damascus again to avoid having the wear spine in a different pattern (to eliminate the shinny wear line)
In that case... How can we etch the steel again? Acid again? Wich acid? and.. where to buy?
Thank you!

I have etched one blade with warm Apple Cider Vineager. It worked great. I didn't ask why Apple Cider instead of regular vineager but thats what I was told, so I used it. They are the same acid content. Easy to dispose of also. One problem that I can foresee is if you would reetch the whole blade you would also etch the bevel. Then you would have to resharpen it. And need tape on the spine to keep that from getting shiny again. Why not use tape to begin with and not worry about reetching it? You could just put the spine in the vinegar but then you could end up with a line where some of it was double etched. Therefore I would just tape it up and hone away.

Tim

Thanks for your advices.
It is a blade wich is bended from the middle to te point. Then, the bevel is normla from hell to midpoint and in one side it becomes smaller (not reaching the point) and in the other bigger through the middlet to the point...
I tried taping and using narrow hones but it is not possible to do it right that way (and if I continue this way, I will have one of those blades I hate where theres much more wear in the point, "half smile blade")
I should absolutely fix by working the spine almost to reach some contact in the whole edge with the stone.
I will try your methods (it depends what can I have first)
I've never etched any metal with acid. Didn't know it was an expanded activity
Thank you!
(if anyone knows were can I find info about how to proceed, pics... please let me know)

Just do a search there is a lot of info out there on this. The more I think about and if it were me, I would do all the grinding or whatever is needed then shine the blade up removing all the traces of the pattern. Then reetch it and the etch would be consistant on the whole piece.

Here is a photo of mine. Straight Razor Place Forums - 32t's Album: bleed - Picture

I did mine on the kitchen stove and it cost very little. And when I was done I dumped the used acid down the drain. You can heat the vinegar in the microwave but I thought that it cooled down to fast. Actually you don't have to heat it at all but I am told you have to soak it longer, even overnight, to get the same results. So what I did was make like a double boiler out of a frying pan and a disposable plastic container that the blade fit in. I put about an inch of water in the pan and floated the vinigar in the plastic one in it. My reasoning is that I didn't want the acid in my pan to get contaminated by and/or etch the pan and then I could heat it on the stove. You have to have the metal very clean. I used acetone but i heard brake cleaner works good also. Don't touch the metal with your fingers after it is clean as the oils will resist the etch. Heat the vinegar and put the blade in it. It seemed to take a while before it started visably working but I think that the metal had to warm up. You could see it bubble away. When I took it out I used a plastic spoon. I don't know if it would make a differece for sure but I didn't want it to contaminate the acid using metal. I then rinsed it in the sink using a using a green kitchen pad. I put it in and out 3 times checking my progress. It took about 45 minutes total. Pretty simple.

Tim