Thanks to everybody for their input. Chuck, I didn't intend to hijack your thread, but maybe I can answer a few of the questions that have been raised.

First, a little history - I first tried using one of the formulas for Damascus barrels given in Greener's book "The Gun and Its Development." This was recommended to me by the well-known engraver and firearms historian, Lynton McKenzie, now deceased. The results, on my guns, at least, were awful. Don't know why.

Then I tried Clorox bleach, straight out of the bottle, swabbed onto a sizzling hot set of barrels, this recommended by Bob Watts, the gunmaker from Georgia, also deceased. This worked a little better, but the figure was still weak.

Then Dr. Gaddy published his instructions in Double Gun Journal, and suddenly, Damascus barrels became a whole lot easier. The only substitution I made was to use a commercial preparation (Laurel Mountain Forge) in lieu of the rusting formula used by Dr. Gaddy Why? It is readily available, and I don't like messing around with potentially toxic and dangerous chemicals.

Now, to address some of the comments:

Chuck - The Radio Shack etchant will remove rust from both the brown and white striations if applied with too strong a concentration. It needs to be a weak solution to provide maximum contrast between the white and the brown. The 15% cut (15% RS to 85% water) was recommended by Dr. Gaddy. It works very well, so I have never felt it necessary to experiment with other dilutions.

SKB - The final strength of my diluted LMF Browner is around 1 part LMF to 10 parts water. The first few passes are stronger - seems to bite better in starting the browning process. If the browner is applied too strongly, it will brown both the white and the brown striations equally, producing a solid brown barrel, with no pattern, and that is not what we want. After the first 2 or 3 passes, I go to 1 to 10.

Bladesmith - From your board name, I'm guessing you're a knife maker. Knifemakers have been using the RS etchant longer than we have, but they use it differently. They use a stronger solution (I don't know the strength), and soak the parts until the Damascus pattern shows, very similar to your description. In other words, they are using the FeCl as a rusting agent, rather than an etching agent, to remove rust. From the few examples I've seen, I don't think the knives turn out as contrasty as the barrels rusted and etched by Dr. Gaddy's method.

Chuck - The pattern after the first few passes will be gray, sometimes a very faint gray. Subsequent passes will build on the dark striations, increasing contrast. This is why it is important not to etch too long, or with too strong a solution of the RS etchant. Stronger solutions or longer etching time simply erase the darker striations which we are trying to build up, not erase.

Now, a few other observations: Simple twist patterns, such as the ones I showed, will produce more contrast than fancy "fingerprint" or "Crolle" patterns. Dr. Gaddy also said that the contrast in English barrels and Belgian barrels will be noticeably different, although I don't remember which is which.

Additional contrast can be produced by varnishing or lacquering the barrels after they are finished. I am using 1 part Tru-Oil (stock finish) to 2 parts paint thinner (Varsol, mineral spirits) So far, this has produced a tough, durable, easily applied cover-up that makes the colors look twice as contrasty.

A new problem has cropped up recently. It is my understanding that Radio Shack will no longer stock their circuit-board etchant in the future. Since a major part of Dr. Gaddy's method relies on the use of a Ferric Chloride solution as an etchant, we very much need to find another source for this important chemical. Angier's book on browning refers to the use of acids and acidic salts as an after-etch, but none of the details have been worked out yet. Anybody have any suggestions?

Hope this helps. Bill