Very nice looking blade. We can stay with the Early Republican/late Qing dating, but as you know the blade could be older. As for etching, there are many opinions. Here is what I would do: Scrub the blade with soap and water, be very careful not to get any on the fittings. Remove any residual oils with Windex and perhaps finally acetone. Then when it is perfectly dry, put clear nail polish over the stars. They could fall out with etching otherwise. I etch mine with vinegar in a PVC tube as this gives an even result. I leave the tube next to the furnace so the temperature is about 35 C.. Then I leave it there for 18-24 hours. I take it out, neutralise it with baking soda, then scrub it again. This makes a clean shiny blade where once again the laminations are difficult to see. (they would be dark before the final scrubbing.) Now what you have done is create a bit of contour with the etching. I take 4000 grit paper and go over the blade. This highlights the lamination, and turns the high carbon steel bright and the low carbon dark. Without this if you just left the blade dark from etching, the high carbon is dark, and the low carbon bright. I prefer bright edges on a Chinese blade. I have not seen this particular approach described before, so I would be interested in others comments. I showed a blade I had treated this way to Scott Rodell, and he liked the way it looked very much.
Josh
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