De-rusting and etching Damascus gun barrel

[estcrh]

Originally Posted by RDGAC

Not sure. I've worked this barrel quite extensively with wire wool and oil, and although it's removed the looser rust on the surface, it seems to have minimal effect on the tougher, older deposits. It also struggles to remove rust from pits in the steel. Presumably the antler, especially with that shape, is better for scraping it away without being hard enough to damage iron or steel.

The thought has just occurred to me, too, that these "antler" things have been known to fall off strange, quadruped beings known as "deers". Being a city boy, I doubt such things really exist; however, I hear one can actually pick them up in places, if one knows where to look!

Its those raised, hardened deposits that are difficult to remove, I have an old Japanese matchlock barrel that I have the same problem with, it has raised deposits of rust, I did not have any antler available so I used a piece of shaped bone (recommended by another expert), this works well. I was told by the same expert that for really hard to remove spots that he uses a piece of knife sharpening stone as an abrasive, he said this was a last resort and to be very careful as the sharpening stone could damage the surface.