thanks for the reply, federico. another confusing aspect of etching that's been bugging me is this; do i polish the blade
before etching, or do i polish it later? on the last kris i acquired, this is basically what i did:
- sprayed the blade with wd40 and scrubbed with 0000 steel wool
- washed with diswashing soap and water, then scrubbed it some more with 0000 steel wool
- thouroughly dried the blade with blow dryer, esp. where the metal and wood meet
- polished the blade with metal-glo, using cotton balls and small circles
so if i want to etch it, do i remove the wax (by heat and rubbing alcohol) and etch it at this point? btw, i'm just using this blade as an example. i'm actually hesitant etching this particular sword due to its 'tiger' pattern...