Just a little tip concerning nail polish. When you are working on the guard on an assembled knife, use nail polish to coat the face of it to hopefully reduce or eliminate any tiny scratches that might occur, okay will occur. Color does not matter, although I prefer a nice scarlet red, <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmiths.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//laugh.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> After you are finished it comes right off with acetone. You can also use it for masking when etching and coloring.
Brion
Brion Tomberlin
Anvil Top Custom Knives
ABS Mastersmith
|quoted:
Just a little tip concerning nail polish. When you are working on the guard on an assembled knife, use nail polish to coat the face of it to hopefully reduce or eliminate any tiny scratches that might occur, okay will occur. Color does not matter, although I prefer a nice scarlet red, <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmiths.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//laugh.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> After you are finished it comes right off with acetone. You can also use it for masking when etching and coloring.
Brion
I just used clear nail polish to the first time to protect my etched name on the spine of a damascus blade. A little warning. Nail polish can soften a bit or peel up at the edge when you dunk it into ferric chloride a few times, so be careful not to disturb it. This may be because I bought the cheapest stuff in the store. <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmiths.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//rolleyes.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':rolleyes:' />
I have to say I have found all sorts of uses for finger nail polish. Personally, I prefer bright red:-) I will laminate damascus on both sides of a piece of high carbon steel. I then do a very very light etch (just so I can clearly see the separation of damascus from high carbon core), clean the blade and then follow the weld line separating the damascus from the high carbon core with the polish. I coat all of the edge portion that exposes the high carbon steel with the polish. I then do a full etch to bring out the damascus pattern. Do my bluing and then clean off the finger nail polish. Since I started with a mirror polish, a quick pass or two on a high polish buffing wheel or a 2000 grit light rub gives me a mirror finish to the exposed core with damascus on both sides.
I also use finger nail polish to protect anything where I might be bluing or etching such as guards or even handle material that I do not want exposed to the etchant. I have had no problems cleaning the finger nail polish off any part though I may need to use Q-tips or even pipe cleaners.
Dan
