etching - confused newbie

[Rivkin]

Dear All !

I've read megazillions of pages on etching, and now I'm really confused:

Background: I want to etch a blade, about 17 inches long, potentially mechanical damascus. The blade is from a museum (still had a catalogue number "dotted" on it), where it was cleaned very well - the surface is non-shiny gray.

Things that I can't seem to find out:

a. Should I dunk it into the acid, or should I use swab and put the acid on it ?
First things seems complex - I don't have plastic bottles 17 inches high.

b. Should I let it sit for an hour, or should I let it sit for a minute, wash with soda or Windex, grind with paper, and repeat the whole process until reaching the desirable result ? Should I use sharpening stones (I would like to sharpen it a bit) after or during the etching ?

c. Some recipes categorically recommend FeCl, some go for vinegar, in between we have mixtures of cider, juices and coca-cola. Should I start with vinegar ?

d. Can I use my sink or pro-chemistry lab (have one available) do better ?

e. Should I preheat the blade couple degrees (don't want to go to high T), or it really won't make such a difference ?

Please help a dumb newbie !

Sincerely yours,

K.Rivkin