How to highlight lamination marks?

kai · 1st December 2008, 09:09 PM

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.

Regards,
Kai

1st December 2008, 09:09 PM	#3
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	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. Regards, Kai