Update and 3 new questions! Since my last post there have been some changes in the procedure used to brown a set of damascus bbl's I'm working on, giving some very favorable results thanks to the knowledgeable responses on this board. First, weatherstripping was added to doors which raised humidity from 50% to 80%+. Second, rust time from 1 hr. to 3.5-4 hrs. Third, FcCl3 cut from 12.5% to 6%. Fourth, used the John Deere lawn mower trailer filled with 25 gal. of H2O to submerse the bbl's while carding w/ 0000 steel wool, ha, worked like a charm, now a visible, yes visible pattern. It took 17 cycles to get to this point and had things been done differently it should have taken 4-5 cycles. Having said that, I feel bbl's should be somewhat of a darker brown allowing slightly more contrast. Will applying more browning solution & subsequent rustings and wet carding w/0000 steel wool give these results? The other question is if nothing is done and bbl's are left as is, will a quick boil, turning bbl's slightly blackish brown give better contrast. Or will it now just be blackish brown and silver with a slight contrast? G.
Last edited by guns; 12/10/13 05:48 PM.
