?? Finishing a damascus pommel ??

SDS

Forum Owner-Moderator
I have a question for those of you who have used damascus as a pommel. I am making a stag handled bowie with damascus guard and pommel. After attaching the pommel and sculpting it to match the stag, how do you etch the damascus without subjecting the stag to the ferric chloride??

So far my best guess is to just kind of paint the FC onto the pommel with a cotton swab or brush in order to keep it off of the stag.

I figured I'd ask others before I screw something up.

Thanks,
SDS
 
I build the pommel so that it is removable. The trick to being able to removal and reinstall it is to have TWO sources of alignment. One is the tang, which I generally thread and secure with a "pommel nut" which I make out of the same damascus as the pommel. I also have a second alignment device, such as a pin, that goes through the pommel into the handle material, usually just below where the tang comes through.
I get everything finished down to size, the take it all apart, do any final finishing, then etch. After etching I re-assemble everything.

Here's a pic of a Bowie I made a while back...look at the image in the lower right to see what I mean.... In this case I finished the pommel down, took it apart then engraved and hot blued the hardware before final assembly. The "second" alignment point on this one is a nickel silver pin, that I form a head on and polished before installing....the two points of alignment means that you can install and remove the pommel, and always have it fit in exactly the same place/way.
Sometimes little details like pommels and such will force you to rethink/change the way you build a knife, just to get that certain portion like you want it.


MosaicBowieBlueCollage.jpg
 
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Shawn you can paint the stag with red finger nail polish. It will act as a resist to keep the ferric from etching the stag. Suspend the end with the pommel into the ferric just make sure it doesn't get above where you have painted the nail polish. Simply remove the polish afterwards with acetone.
 
I did one like that for Blade show and just put a little ferric in a pan and also wrapped the stag in electrical tape really tight. I tried not getting it on the stag but had the tape as a back up.
 
Ed, Mike and Cliff, thank you all for your responses. I think I have this one finished up but I'm certainly going to be rethinking my construction methods again.

Ed, you are absolutely right about these little details making a big difference in the way a knife is constructed. I am constantly rethinking my "perfect" way of doing something. Just when I think I have something figured out someone shows me a different way of doing it that makes me have one of those "DOH" moments.

Thanks again for the replies,
SDS
 
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