Caden_Vekk Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 I'm working on my first knife made of damascus. Its a full tang knife that I intend on using buffalo horn for the scales. The problem I'm having is that on this model knife I have always rounded over all of it: the spine the tang, everything has a by-eye rounding to it that is totally dependent upon the the handle scales being in place while grinding it. Being damascus, I'm going to have to dip the knife (with handle material in place) in ferric chloride. I'm going for a very light etch, just enough to bring out the pattern on the surface...but I have no idea how buffalo horn reacts to ferric chloride...much less the Pops two part epoxy that I use. My question is: do any of you have any workarounds to this problem? Or will the buffalo and epoxy be fine for a ~1 min dip in acid? Any tips and tricks are welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerrod Miller Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 You could temporarily affix the scales while you form everything. This can be done with bolts or pressed pins that aren't peened. Shape, remove pins/bolts, remove scales, etch, final assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Keyes Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 That is what I would do. Superglue or pin or bolt everything in place, do all of your finishing, pop everything apart and etch, do final assembly. Or, don't etch the tang and spine, which, IMHO, does not look as good. Geoff "The worst day smithing is better than the best day working for someone else." I said that. If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly. - - -G. K. Chesterton So, just for the record: the fact that it does work still should not be taken as definitive proof that you are not crazy. Grant Sarver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel James Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 i just ran into this problem myself, i waited until i had 3 coats of tung oil to apply with a q tip etching solution... took forever -- and did not work well. I will be doing the above method next time for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin_Lyles Posted June 14, 2016 Share Posted June 14, 2016 (edited) As said above, you'll want to do all shaping and handlework with everything temporally attached (I use pins and a dab of superglue). Once shaping is done, pop everything off to etch, then you attach everything permanently with epoxy and clean excess epoxy off with acetone. Edited June 14, 2016 by Austin_Lyles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caden_Vekk Posted June 15, 2016 Author Share Posted June 15, 2016 awesome, thanks for the help guys. super glue sounds good to me. Too bad i dont particulry care for micarta, I dunked some canvas micarta in the acid to test and 15-20min...no effect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deker Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 When I have to do stuff like this, I mask the handle slabs off with nail polish and just dunk the whole thing. After the etch, acetone takes the nail polish right off. If it's a material that might stain from a colored polish, use clear nail polish. Where I can I use something that has a color so I can see when I've removed it all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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