How do you dome your pins without messing up the etched bolsters?
Thanks
Steve
VERY CAREFULLY!
First, if you harden your bolsters they won't be as likely to dent if you miss. I use a small ball peen hammer, maybe 4 or 6 ounces, to get started. Sometimes I switch to a heavier hammer, but that may not be necessary with gold pins. The gold isn't going to be as hard as the stainless steel, so go easy. Make small precise hits (taps really) with your hammer. Don't get in too big a hurry. I also lower my Opti-Visor and get my face down close so I can see what I'm doing. You could put a couple of layers of heavy tape around the pins to cushion the blow if you miss or slip. After you've domed them, buff them. (Buffing is generally not a bad idea with stainless damascus, as it helps enhance the pattern and the contrast.) The easy thing to do would be to peen the pins and flush them like the 416 pins, then etch the entire blade/bolster assembly together. (Do put epoxy under the bolsters to seal them off as I noted earlier. It would prove embarrassing if rusty slop oozed out in a couple of years!)
If you dome the bolster pins, I'd dome the handle pins to give the knife a coordinated look.
I don't know what muriatic acid do to the gold. If you're using Norris' damascus you are better off using ferric chloride. It etches it well, gives good contrast, and it doesn't fume and rust your machinery and burn your eyes. (Okay, to be sure, take a piece of gold and dip it into the FC for a few minutes as a test. Like Reagan with the Russians, "trust, but verify".)
Another thought about gold would be to consider the colored gold alloys. Rose and green gold would look good if you happen to have MOP with some undertones of pinks and greens.
If those black pins continue to irritate you, do you think you could drive them out and replace them with gold without damaging the rest of the knife?
Steve, I think you're on the right track her. That's a nice knife with a good shape. The materials are rich and elegant. It would make what I call a "personal knife", a smallish fixed blade that is usually of nicer materials and is carried for general personal use.
Whatever you decide to do, you should probably set it aside for a few days and just chill. Come back to it when you are fresh.
David