Hello,
I recently finished a small pattern welded bowl (an experiment to see how far I could stretch the material). I have a large santoku made from the same billet: Wrought, L6, and 1084. I have yet to polish and etch the knife, but after etching the bowl the wrought iron in particular has started rusting pretty quickly, especially in the pits and blemishes.
My questions in preparation for finishing the blade: is simply oiling the best way to prevent this? Is there some other technique? Also, is there a way to get rid of the rust in the bowl without messing with the etched pattern?
Thanks in advance-
Eric