reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
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Post by reptaronice1 on Jan 17, 2020 20:54:31 GMT
The grinding on the tang and the edge is too rough to see whether it's folded. Even with a better polish (i.e., ground more finely) it would be hard to see. That's why the blade has been acid-etched to make the pattern more visible, and also chemically stained for more contrast. Yes, this is a genuine folded blade. Probably the tang, too. Would I be able to acid etch the tang myself?
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 17, 2020 20:55:14 GMT
Usually pattern welded blades are etched (= the whole blade immersed in acid) to enhance the difference of the color of the two or more different steels that have been welded together. Without this etching it's possible that you even can't see the pattern at all. This etching makes one steel turning black, the other steel not or only grey.
But it's also possible to etch a pattern into a plain monosteel blade. Timo's link shows such a knife, that's the thing I hadn't seen before.
Another example is the white frosty hamon many Hanwei DH blades show. Afaik it's etched and it doesn't follow the real hamon exactly.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Jan 17, 2020 21:22:30 GMT
Would I be able to acid etch the tang myself? Yes. First you need to polish the edges of the tang smooth. Then etch, most commonly with ferric chloride or hydrochloric acid. Some instructions: sauerandsteiner.blogspot.com/2012/03/etching-pattern-welded-steel-damascus.htmlI don't know what antler grip scales will think about ferric chloride. The safe option would be to take the scales off for the process, but you might not want to do that (first, you need to remove them without damage, and then you need to put them back on afterwards). You might be able to protect them with tape or wax.
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Post by Timo Nieminen on Jan 17, 2020 21:43:18 GMT
Cool, first time I see a pattern that is just etched, not pattern welded & etched. Didn't know such knives really exist. Here's one where the tang was laser-etched, too: Before laser etching, it could be, and was, done by acid etched and engraving. I don't have any blade examples at hand, but here are some gun barrels with fake damascus patterns and fake pattern-welding twist patterns:
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Post by AndiTheBarvarian on Jan 17, 2020 21:55:12 GMT
Nice. What just came into my mind are the etched blades of my CS and Windlass officers' sabers. The pattern or engravings are not simply etched but somehow stamped in. I usually sand and polish the black etching away cause I don't like it but the staped pattern remains, which is fine for me.
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Post by Sir Thorfinn on Jan 17, 2020 22:01:11 GMT
Vinegar/Ferric Chloride, or any acid can enhance the differences in the metals, making it easier to see the layers. And looking REAL close at your picture of the edge, you can see some lines from the different metals. Very faint, but they are there. So yes...it's a 'pattern welded' knife. 'Damascus' is kind of a sales tag, and a never ending source of frustration to collectors or anyone 'in the know'. And Wootz...is the original 'damascus steel' because it came from Damascus. They also did pattern welding, so nomenclature gets muddy. I'm babbling...
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reptaronice1
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Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
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Post by reptaronice1 on Jan 18, 2020 3:19:32 GMT
Vinegar/Ferric Chloride, or any acid can enhance the differences in the metals, making it easier to see the layers. And looking REAL close at your picture of the edge, you can see some lines from the different metals. Very faint, but they are there. So yes...it's a 'pattern welded' knife. 'Damascus' is kind of a sales tag, and a never ending source of frustration to collectors or anyone 'in the know'. And Wootz...is the original 'damascus steel' because it came from Damascus. They also did pattern welding, so nomenclature gets muddy. I'm babbling... I’m cool with folded steel, I never expected wootz or anything like that
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reptaronice1
Member
Tell Me... Friend... When Did Saruman The Wise Abandon Reason For Madness?!
Posts: 2,360
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Post by reptaronice1 on Jan 18, 2020 3:20:20 GMT
Would I be able to acid etch the tang myself? Yes. First you need to polish the edges of the tang smooth. Then etch, most commonly with ferric chloride or hydrochloric acid. Some instructions: sauerandsteiner.blogspot.com/2012/03/etching-pattern-welded-steel-damascus.htmlI don't know what antler grip scales will think about ferric chloride. The safe option would be to take the scales off for the process, but you might not want to do that (first, you need to remove them without damage, and then you need to put them back on afterwards). You might be able to protect them with tape or wax. Thx
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Post by usher on Feb 17, 2020 11:37:13 GMT
As has already been said: (and also look at the spine). This knife looks like the usual etched and stained to enhance contrast Pakistani damascus, so I see no reason at all to suspect anything else. There are many etched knives out there these days. Usually kitchen knives, laser-etched, made in China. A randomly-chosen example: www.amazon.com/MICHELANGELO-Damascus-Pattern-Stainless-Japanese/dp/B07V3BRM8NLooks nothing like this bowie. So I looked at it and took some pictures, I can clearly see layers on the spine but not on the blade, also notice how the tang does not have layers so that makes me think it is a welded on stainless steel tang with a folded layered blade. Lemme know what you guys think about the pictures. I had almost similar to this 1 once! but the blade wasn't damascus.. it was normal stainless steel... it was 1 of my favorites! lost it somewhere... :/
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Post by RufusScorpius on Feb 17, 2020 19:58:14 GMT
I have nothing useful to add, I just want to say that regardless of what metal was used, it's still a good looking knife.
I say take it out and use it. If it snaps, then it was not worth $50 and now you know for certain. If it holds up, then it's still mystery steel, but a good mystery steel.
Sometimes, occasionally, and quite by random, you can get a good knife from Pakistan. But I wouldn't make a bet on it. Generally I go through great lengths to avoid a knife made anywhere other than in a Western country. USA and Germany are my first choices, with England after, and then the rest of the EU about equal.
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