A first post, and a few questions about barung restoration.

[Edward C.]

Hello all, I have been reading this most excellent form for a long time, finally decided to join. I have a long time interest in all sorts of edged weapons, and intend to post some photo's up as soon as I figure out the method.

Some years ago, I was given an beat up old barung, with no hilt, and a damaged scabbard. The blade was a smooth age gray, lightly rusted with a bright "hamon" for lack of a better word. Nothing special to look at.

I used some wet and dry sandpaper to bring it up to 800 grit polish, alternating between cross blade and long blade axis between grits, so as to ensure the previous, coarser grit marks were gone.

At 320 grit, I quit for the night and washed the blade under warm water. Imagine my surprise when a beautiful pattern started appearing- no etching, just some sort of oxidization from the water, maybe? Wiped it down with oil and set it aside.

Last night, I took it to 800 grit, and washed it off and applied some vinegar.
A very attractive pattern emerged, although it was instantly evident I had not gotten all the oil off the blade, so the results were a bit spotty. The edge is an inserted piece of steel that stayed pretty bright, and there are shiny little squiggly lines all throughout the pattern- looks a bit like mokume, sort off- quite refined looking. The whole blade though, is a bit dark- is it the norm to burnish off the surface after etching, with steel wool or 1200 grit paper or something?
The blade in question, and the scabbard carving, look very much like the one in this post, blade number two. It is a very tightly forged piece.
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=barung

I may need to go back and re-polish with 1000 grit and use some acetone to get off all the oil and re-etch.
Another question- when I initially noticed the pattern, after a warm water rinse, it was a yellowish -red color, maybe infinitesimal bit of rust? The vinegar immediately wiped it away, then it took some time for the pattern to re-appear, but in a dark blue gray color. Do different etching mediums have different coloration's? And how bright were these swords when first made?

Since this sword was so badly treated, instead of a mild clean up and wax, I would like to bring it back as far as I can, and will carve a new hilt and repair the scabbard, assuming I can find the hilt material and pattern.

Any guidance will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Ed.