Bhutan sword with chromed blade: advice needed

A. G. Maisey · 4th May 2011, 02:14 PM

Over the years I have had a number of different blades with plating, usually chrome plating, but on a couple of occasions I seem to recall it was nickel.

In all cases I dismounted the blade and gave it to a plater to reverse the process and remove the plating.

In all cases the removal was totally satisfactory.

After the plating had been removed I did a light polish with wet and dry paper and etched.

The results of the etching were not always all that pleasing. On a couple of occasions I finished up with truly excellent blades of mechanical damascus and another of wootz; some khukris had blades that were composed of haphazardly welded bits and pieces; a couple of blades were mild steel or iron with no pattern at all. One jambiya was revealed as total junk--- the rib down the middle of the blade was a line of electric welding.

If the plating on this Bhutan blade were to be removed it could be a win, or it could be a loss.

4th May 2011, 02:14 PM	#14
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,015	Over the years I have had a number of different blades with plating, usually chrome plating, but on a couple of occasions I seem to recall it was nickel. In all cases I dismounted the blade and gave it to a plater to reverse the process and remove the plating. In all cases the removal was totally satisfactory. After the plating had been removed I did a light polish with wet and dry paper and etched. The results of the etching were not always all that pleasing. On a couple of occasions I finished up with truly excellent blades of mechanical damascus and another of wootz; some khukris had blades that were composed of haphazardly welded bits and pieces; a couple of blades were mild steel or iron with no pattern at all. One jambiya was revealed as total junk--- the rib down the middle of the blade was a line of electric welding. If the plating on this Bhutan blade were to be removed it could be a win, or it could be a loss.