N.N
Well-Known Member
question: What happens if you do a ferric chloride etch and then cold blue?
I'm asking this because at the last minute, I've decided that I'm not going to handle a knife. I'm going to leave it plain steel. It's 1084. Only the blade has been heat treated. I know that if I want to blacken this blade as much as possible, the ferric etch will work well. However the handle, which is not hardened will be a little lighter in color. What would happen if I soak this in ferric for a while, clean it up, give it a baking soda bath for a while to help the etch stick and then cold blue it?
Will the cold blue do something funky or darken it more?
I'm asking this because at the last minute, I've decided that I'm not going to handle a knife. I'm going to leave it plain steel. It's 1084. Only the blade has been heat treated. I know that if I want to blacken this blade as much as possible, the ferric etch will work well. However the handle, which is not hardened will be a little lighter in color. What would happen if I soak this in ferric for a while, clean it up, give it a baking soda bath for a while to help the etch stick and then cold blue it?
Will the cold blue do something funky or darken it more?