Barry, I remember seeing this little beauty at one of the conventions. Truly a gem! It gives me the idea that I too, may want to blue the Damascus after inlaying the gold. It gives it a far greater impact.
Joe, the knife I've been tasked with is an already assembled folder.
there is no engraving on it, but this is a very simple bluing job I did while making this one. after sanding and polishing the bolsters and liners on this I buried them in kosher salt in a toaster oven at 500deg. for 2 hrs. I preheated the salt then burry the parts. I know there are other, and likely better ways, but this seemed to give a nice almost glazed look to the polished steel. and no lung melting chemical baths required.
Looks great, BUT, why are the armed dillos darker ? A different steel inlaid ?
Then, besides copious amounts of water what do you use to neutralize ? Sealing?
Have you used this technique before? And are there any negative effects,(corrosion) down the road ?
Thanks.
pieces go in dry. I just take them out of the salt and spray with WD-40. (sorry, forgot to mention that part) no negative effects that ive noticed from doing this. seems to prevent surface rusting as well. I first started playing with this with Damascus rings. still have a few treated this way from a couple years ago, still, no surface rust showing. it might not be as permanent or durable a treatment as the Niter bluing salts. *shrugs ive not worked with any of it.
the blade is some of Robert Eggerlings picture mosaic Damascus. armadillos are the steel... all the way through.