Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

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Jeff B
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by Jeff B »

Very cool Dan!
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by pd7077 »

Altadan wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 11:33 pm Tonight, on a complete whim, I finally decided to put my hands to this etching business. I turned to Steve with a few queries, all of which he very kindly answered, to my huge benefit.

In brief, I took my Tanaka B#2 from a patina'd mirror, to a 500 grit polish, followed by 800, and then dipped it in a 10% FeCl solution for three sessions of about 5-7 minutes each.
I proudly post them here in tribute to Steve who both inspired and encouraged the process :D :mrgreen:
Nice work, Dan! Welcome to the dark side 😉

Don’t forget to scrub off the oxides after each round of etching. I do it using 0000 steel wool and my neutralizing solution. After neutralizing, I’ll usually do a few passes using the last grit (or one step finer) I used prior to etching. This should help you to get a cleaner and more uniform etch. Great results for your first attempt man. It definitely looks better than my first go at it!!!
--- Steve
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by Altadan »

pd7077 wrote: Wed May 15, 2019 7:55 am
Altadan wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 11:33 pm Tonight, on a complete whim, I finally decided to put my hands to this etching business. I turned to Steve with a few queries, all of which he very kindly answered, to my huge benefit.

In brief, I took my Tanaka B#2 from a patina'd mirror, to a 500 grit polish, followed by 800, and then dipped it in a 10% FeCl solution for three sessions of about 5-7 minutes each.
I proudly post them here in tribute to Steve who both inspired and encouraged the process :D :mrgreen:
Nice work, Dan! Welcome to the dark side 😉

Don’t forget to scrub off the oxides after each round of etching. I do it using 0000 steel wool and my neutralizing solution. After neutralizing, I’ll usually do a few passes using the last grit (or one step finer) I used prior to etching. This should help you to get a cleaner and more uniform etch. Great results for your first attempt man. It definitely looks better than my first go at it!!!
Thanks so much for the kind words. Getting better results than you did on your first attempt must have something to do with having you as a guide ;)
Once I experience the new polish and its effect on stickage (which was severe with the mirror polish) I'll start thinking about a sequel to last night's first attempt 8-)
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by nakneker »

Altadan wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 11:33 pm Tonight, on a complete whim, I finally decided to put my hands to this etching business. I turned to Steve with a few queries, all of which he very kindly answered, to my huge benefit.

In brief, I took my Tanaka B#2 from a patina'd mirror, to a 500 grit polish, followed by 800, and then dipped it in a 10% FeCl solution for three sessions of about 5-7 minutes each.
I proudly post them here in tribute to Steve who both inspired and encouraged the process :D :mrgreen:
~
[Click for full resolution]

[Tanaka Blue#2 ETCH]-0372.jpg[Tanaka Blue#2 ETCH]-0374.jpg[Tanaka Blue#2 ETCH]-0383.jpg[Tanaka Blue#2 ETCH]-0382.jpg
Whoa, check that out. Nicely done Dan!
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by Drewski »

Altadan wrote: Tue May 14, 2019 11:33 pm Tonight, on a complete whim, I finally decided to put my hands to this etching business. I turned to Steve with a few queries, all of which he very kindly answered, to my huge benefit.

In brief, I took my Tanaka B#2 from a patina'd mirror, to a 500 grit polish, followed by 800, and then dipped it in a 10% FeCl solution for three sessions of about 5-7 minutes each.
I proudly post them here in tribute to Steve who both inspired and encouraged the process :D :mrgreen:
~
Awesome!
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by Altadan »

Thanks guys for the kind words.

Though really cool looking, it came out a little blotchy (though not in bad way), and with more friction than I'd care for; kinda reminiscent of the Yoshimi Kato R2, as some of you may recall from the passaround.

In some ways, etching is as easy as anything. But truly truly I say unto you, Steve makes this stuff look easy!
The pictures he posts - composition, lighting, and general photography #skillz aside - reflect highly refined work, and lots of attention to detail!

To remedy the friction I applied a 1200 grit to it, and... then re-etched it again, with a weaker solution, and only for 6 minutes, to get some contrast (blotches came out different, and not as cool :( ). We'll see how she behaves on onions tomorrow.

Question:
with etched steel/iron, what should I expect by way of patina from regular kitchen work?
Thanks!
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by pd7077 »

Altadan wrote: Fri May 17, 2019 12:05 am Thanks guys for the kind words.

Though really cool looking, it came out a little blotchy (though not in bad way), and with more friction than I'd care for; kinda reminiscent of the Yoshimi Kato R2, as some of you may recall from the passaround.

In some ways, etching is as easy as anything. But truly truly I say unto you, Steve makes this stuff look easy!
The pictures he posts - composition, lighting, and general photography #skillz aside - reflect highly refined work, and lots of attention to detail!

To remedy the friction I applied a 1200 grit to it, and... then re-etched it again, with a weaker solution, and only for 6 minutes, to get some contrast (blotches came out different, and not as cool :( ). We'll see how she behaves on onions tomorrow.

Question:
with etched steel/iron, what should I expect by way of patina from regular kitchen work?
Thanks!
I’ve only etched stainless clad knives, but my brain tells me that there should be significantly less reactivity with etched iron cladding. Ferric chloride is a salt, but when dissolved in water it becomes a fairly strong acid. In simple terms (mainly because I forgot a lot of my chemistry), etching is basically forcing a patina.

In terms of the texture and friction, I’m not sure if the Yoshimi Kato SG2 texture was a result of etching or sandblasting. Maybe it’s both? I remember that knife being very grabby, and it was my only real complaint with that passaround knife. I have found that doing multiple shorter etches will minimize getting that type of texture when etching. I always make sure to scrub off the oxides while neutralizing, and then I will even polish it back a little before going back into the etch. The knife below was finished at 800 grit. I believe that I did a total of five 3-5min etches, and I polished back with 6um diamond emulsion after neutralizing. The surface is super smooth with zero texture. If anything, I think there’s a bit too much shine, but I’m leaving it as is for now.

Image
--- Steve
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by Jeff B »

pd7077 wrote: Fri May 17, 2019 10:06 am ...I polished back with 6um diamond emulsion after neutralizing...
I could use some emulsions at 6um+. Shoot me a PM on what you use.
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by Huntdad »

Great thread!
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by pd7077 »

I took some time this weekend to work on one of my own knives...a Watanabe Kintaro Ame W#2 cleaver. I had a suspicion that there was a raindrop pattern hiding in there so I did a quick & dirty kasumi polish on it. In truth, it wasn’t very quick. I used 8 different fingerstones on it because I was not sure how the cladding would react to the stones. In the end, I found what I was looking for...

Image
Image
Image
Image

Instagram link (thanks to Ben) for a short video I took:
Image

Now that I know what’s there, it’s time to get a proper polish on it.
--- Steve
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by nakneker »

Well that’s pretty dang cool, nice hunch you had. Makes me wonder what my Wat cleaver is hiding 🤔
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by pd7077 »

Life has been busy so it’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit down and do a bit of polishing. I got a few new stones in, and I had a bit of downtime over the weekend so I decided to test them out on a kiridashi that a buddy gave me. The bevel was already pristine so I figured that it would be a good canvas to test out the stones on. The differences are very subtle, but it was a fun 30min of zen.

Takinohara Aizu
Image

Iromono (Unknown Mine)
Image

Aiiwatani Tomae
Image

Ohira Renge Suita
Image

Yaginoshima Suita
Image
--- Steve
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by gladius »

Nice. Which stone did you like best?
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by pd7077 »

In terms of feel, the iromono and tomae were probably my favorites. There’s a bit of overlap between the two, but I would say the that tomae is a tad harder and finer. In terms of the kasumi, I would have to give it to the Yagi suita. It’s not quite as hard as the Ohira, but it’s finer and gave a bit more detail/brightness to the suminagashi layers.
--- Steve
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by arthurfowler »

Really nice and fascinating as always Steve.
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by nakneker »

Nice to see an update. One of the best threads on here. Maybe someone should start a j nat thread.

Show us your new knife

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And show us your new J nat!
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by salemj »

pd7077 wrote: Tue Sep 24, 2019 10:49 am Life has been busy so it’s been a while since I’ve been able to sit down and do a bit of polishing. I got a few new stones in, and I had a bit of downtime over the weekend so I decided to test them out on a kiridashi that a buddy gave me. The bevel was already pristine so I figured that it would be a good canvas to test out the stones on. The differences are very subtle, but it was a fun 30min of zen.
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by arthurfowler »

nakneker wrote: Tue Sep 24, 2019 8:35 pm Nice to see an update. One of the best threads on here. Maybe someone should start a j nat thread.

Show us your new knife

Show us your new handle

And show us your new J nat!
+1
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by lsboogy »

Beautiful, all I can say
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Re: Polishing, Kasumi Finish & Etching

Post by ken123 »

Beautiful work on that kiridashi!!

---
Ken
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