Alan Longmire

Nice hada! That last pic especially.

That makes two of us! Although, it seems like Jeff had a pic of a small spearhead with teeny tiny teeth. I'll have to look, but still, this is seriously cool.

Yep. To keep it clear, if you use ferric nitrate to stain the wood, you can call it aqua fortis stain, but not plain aqua fortis. There was an outfit called Wahkon Bay that used to sell ferric nitrate labeled as aqua fortis stain, that may be where the confusion got started. Sorry to hijack the thread, Stephen! Do you use heat on the chromic acid like you do the ferric nitrate?

The pure iron and butter iron don't show a pattern because they have nothing to show, they are just homogenous metal. Wrought iron shows a pattern because it is a composite material of thin iron strings of varying composition mixed with iron silicate slag. The ferric chloride usually dries to a reddish powder, though... I don't know why yours is white, but then I don't let it dry on the steel, either.

Yep, the contrast between the new and fossil ivory really works. And I dig the grooved guard.

For the record, when wood finishing people say aqua fortis they mean ferric nitrate. When antiquarian chemists say aqua fortis they mean nitric acid. Nitric alone does enhance the grain, but doesn't add color. Well, it does add orange, but that's not really helpful...

That's gonna look good with the centerline running through those X's. Good pattern for a double-edged symmetrical blade.

Lookin' good, Stephen! I've never played with the chromic acid, but it does pop the grain.

You, sir, are a fast learner! Looks good.

But you still won't know what it is. Keep in mind that mower blades are designed to be lawsuit-proof, as in, will not ever break and send metal shards flying across the yard to injure anyone, resulting in a major liability claim against the manufacturer. In some cases, like on some commercial mowers, the blade steel is somewhat hardenable, but is sold in a way-soft tempered condition emphasizing toughness rather than hardness. In other cases, like consumer-grade stuff from the big box stores, they are not hardenable at all just in case some genius gets the idea to harden his mower blades so

That's pretty much it.

Check your email, the yahoo account. I want to be sure we can communicate before I do something irreversible!

I can reset it to something neutral, then you change it when you log back in. I can't see people's passwords, but I can edit them.

In a good way, though.

I smooth mine a little, but that's up to you. The as-cast texture tends to keep it from sticking, and if you use it a lot it'll wear smooth anyway.