How to highlight lamination marks?

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by Robert Coleman

Hi, Is it Renaissance Wax that you are referring to using after etching the blade or are you talking about staining?

Hi Robert. Yes I think that's what I've read before in the posts here. Thanks! But the concept of staining would be quite interesting also. In that case then, what would be the chemical/s that can be used?

Originally Posted by kai

Ren Wax is good as an "icing on the cake" when working on a blade but it won't help to see laminations better (that would have to be done in an earlier etching step).

After oiling you can either store the blade "wet" when wrapped in plastic foil but never in the scabbard since the oil will stick to the wood (or, even worse, leather!) and start making problems sooner or later. So you need to wipe down the excess oil from the blade; still, oil will tend to attract dust which also will harm the blade (e.g. faster corrosion).

When you do a wax finish over the oiled and wiped down blade, you'll get a fairly inert finish which also helps to protect against thumbprints getting corroded into the blade (this is not granted but if you wipe down any touched blade ASAP, it usually works nicely). You have to redo the wax finish depending on the handling, climate, and other factors though.

Hello Kai. Thanks too for the additional info and tips. I will certainly try the "wet" blade technique. Would you also be aware of any staining technique, that will make those lamination marks stand out even more? Thanks in advance.

By the way, yesterday I've experimented using a local fruit called kamyas [come-YUSS], as suggested by Kino and the others.

Said fruit is the one on the plate in one of the pics.

The result is encouraging. Whereas before that kampilan's blade doesn't have conspicuous lamination marks, after rubbing the blade with the kamyas for about 20 minutes, the laminations stood out much clearer.

The scientific names of kamyas are Averrhoa bilimbi and Hedychium coronarium. And the active agent in kamyas is oxalic acid.

I think I'll try kamyas again on some other blades and will find out whether the effect is consistent.