WIP - Mammoth and Meteorite

M

mt_hangglider

Member
Hi guys,

Just thought I'd share my latest work in progress; a mammoth and meteorite folder. It was a productive weekend in the shop. I was able to devote enough time to get the handle materials drilled, countersunk, shaped, re-etched and finished. I have a feeling this is going to turn out very nice! I've also considered heat bluing parts but that may have to wait until next time when I've had time to experiment with scrap material. I think the meteorite turned out great for my first time working and re-etching it. The blade and backspacer have yet to be made as well as any filework. That's the beauty of a folder, certain steps can be done in any order you want. Thanks for looking and I'll post more pictures when it's finished! -Chad

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I am going to use some Rob Calcinore multibar Damascus appropriately named stars and stripes for the blade and spine:

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rmbonham said:
That is beautiful! Was the meteorite hard to work with?
Click to expand...

Thanks! The meteorite wasn't too bad until it came time to re-etch. I got two very nice stable pieces sent to me. They drilled, ground and sanded just like steel. Then of course a person has to take them through the different grits to get a mirror polish. This one was taken to 800 then to the buffing wheel with super fine rouge. Once shaped and polished they must be cleaned very well with acetone. You then prepare your concoction of alcohol and nitric acid. From what I gathered reading tutorials, you want your nitric acid to be anywhere from 5-12%. I went with 7%. You then take a paintbrush or sponge and start applying the nitric over the surfaces. I got tired of this after the first 30 seconds so I just immersed them in the solution. It took about 3-5 minutes to get the etch I wanted. They then went through washing and several trays of baking soda / distilled water to neutralize the acid. Once this was done, I took a hair dryer and finished drying. After all that was done, I wasn't quite happy with the contrast so I followed a suggestion on one of the more in depth tutorials which is to hit them with pure ferric chloride for 5-6 seconds to really bring out the contrast. I'm glad I did because this really made the etch pop. It was then back to re-neutralizing and drying. Finally, they were immersed in automatic transmission fluid to get any remaining water out and to keep them from rusting. I decided to put them in my vacuum chamber to really draw that ATF into all the little cracks and crevices where water or nitol could still be hiding. It was a very interesting and time consuming process. Whether I did everything perfectly or not remains to be seen. So far, they show absolutely no signs of rust. Here's the link to the best meteorite cutting, etching, and preserving tutorial I found on the net: http://www.nuggetshooter.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=7933
 
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