Bill Hubbell
KNIFE MAKER
I guess I learned something tonight (sorry about the low quality phone pics).
I was putting my maker's mark on the two knives I recently finished. One was kind of a prototype of a small knife, neck-knife, that I want to make a few more of. I etched it first.It wasn't quite as important as the other one-a Tanto I've been trying to get done for months. I hadn't etched any logos for awhile, so I started on the smaller knife and everything went well.
Then I thought I would use a new stencil to ensure as crisp of a mark as possible on this larger Tanto.
As I was etching the mark, I noticed that the last few letters of the new stencil were not turning color as they usually do as I etch. I continued to repeat the contact with the stencil and knife, tried turning my contact pad, and re-wet the pad, but the last few letters did not seem to be reacting right. Sure enough, when I removed the stencil, the last few letters had not etched.The knife was impeccably cleaned with alcohol and lacquer thinner just prior to the etch, and I didn't touch the area after cleaning. All I can think of is that the stencil may not have been cut all the way through.
I tried the stencil again on a piece of mild steel scrap, and got the same results.
What may save me is that with the profile being what it is, I can go back to the grinder and take off material down past the etch, and then work back through the grits and polish. I'm glad I chose to put the mark on the spine instead of in the ricasso area!
Anyway, I guess I will always try a new stencil once on a piece of mild steel before I use it on a more important piece.
Just thought I'd share that in case anyone here has had a similar experience etching (and just to whine!).
Thx,
Bill
I was putting my maker's mark on the two knives I recently finished. One was kind of a prototype of a small knife, neck-knife, that I want to make a few more of. I etched it first.It wasn't quite as important as the other one-a Tanto I've been trying to get done for months. I hadn't etched any logos for awhile, so I started on the smaller knife and everything went well.
Then I thought I would use a new stencil to ensure as crisp of a mark as possible on this larger Tanto.
As I was etching the mark, I noticed that the last few letters of the new stencil were not turning color as they usually do as I etch. I continued to repeat the contact with the stencil and knife, tried turning my contact pad, and re-wet the pad, but the last few letters did not seem to be reacting right. Sure enough, when I removed the stencil, the last few letters had not etched.The knife was impeccably cleaned with alcohol and lacquer thinner just prior to the etch, and I didn't touch the area after cleaning. All I can think of is that the stencil may not have been cut all the way through.
I tried the stencil again on a piece of mild steel scrap, and got the same results.
What may save me is that with the profile being what it is, I can go back to the grinder and take off material down past the etch, and then work back through the grits and polish. I'm glad I chose to put the mark on the spine instead of in the ricasso area!
Anyway, I guess I will always try a new stencil once on a piece of mild steel before I use it on a more important piece.
Just thought I'd share that in case anyone here has had a similar experience etching (and just to whine!).
Thx,
Bill
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