EdCaffreyMS
"The Montana Bladesmith"
This might sound a bit picky, but those of you who know me, know that I'm really anal when it comes to fit and finish on my knives.
This morning I etched two Damascus blades....both were the same billet, same pattern, and hand sanded to 600 grit prior to etching. Not realizing it, I used Silicon Carbide paper on one, and aluminum oxide on the other. After etching and cleaning, I was looking them over carefully, and noticed that the blade I hand sanded with Silicon Carbide paper has a very slight "hazy" appearance in the pattern when compared to the blade sanded with Aluminum oxide paper. I would have never noticed it, had I not finished them out and laid them side by side on the bench.
I thought it might have just been something I did to one blade, and not the other....but I'm very mechanical in how I finish out Damascus blades....the only difference I can determine is the type of paper used to hand sand them.
I tried to take some pics, but you can't see any difference in the photos.
I wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced this? I likely would never have thought about it had I not used the two different paper types on nearly identical blades by accident. who knows, this might just send me off on a tangent to understand the whole experience!
This morning I etched two Damascus blades....both were the same billet, same pattern, and hand sanded to 600 grit prior to etching. Not realizing it, I used Silicon Carbide paper on one, and aluminum oxide on the other. After etching and cleaning, I was looking them over carefully, and noticed that the blade I hand sanded with Silicon Carbide paper has a very slight "hazy" appearance in the pattern when compared to the blade sanded with Aluminum oxide paper. I would have never noticed it, had I not finished them out and laid them side by side on the bench.
I thought it might have just been something I did to one blade, and not the other....but I'm very mechanical in how I finish out Damascus blades....the only difference I can determine is the type of paper used to hand sand them.
I tried to take some pics, but you can't see any difference in the photos.
I wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced this? I likely would never have thought about it had I not used the two different paper types on nearly identical blades by accident. who knows, this might just send me off on a tangent to understand the whole experience!