1060 Carbon steel katana sword

[Chris J Anderson]

Hi to All.

I have a client who wishes to have a dragon engraved on his 'Katana 1060 Carbon Steel' sword.

Before I attempt this, would simple rotary diamond do the job on this or is it too hard.

I googled the sword and the metal looks pretty hard / impressive.

Any thoughts / idea's ?

I won't do the job unless I'm sure I won't just leave a scratchy mess.

Cheers,
Chris

[Mike Null]

I would not use a diamond as I don't think you can get either depth or a good image for engraving with that tool. I'd be more inclined to use Cermark or better, sandblasting with 150-180 grit silicon carbide. I've done both and believe the sandblasting is the better process for this application.

[Darryl Hazen]

i agree with Mike. Sandblasting

[Dave Sheldrake]

+2

Carbon steel sword blades tend to be tough rather than hard, if they were too hard they would just snap rather than flex so blasting will be the way to go.

[Braden Todd]

If blasting make sure the resist wont stain the metal, I have had a few knives and swords that the resist would stain very quickly. A good fix is the glue sold by rayzist, adds a layer of protection for the metal and more adhesive for your resist.

Good luck!

[Ernie Balch]

I have experimented with painting steel then using the laser to ablate a pattern. The pattern can then be etched into the steel with ferric chloride or with salt water and a battery charger. Knife makers stick a stencil pattern onto the blade and use DC to remove metal then switch to ac for a black mark. There are specialty etchants, power supplies and stencil materials advertised by knife making supply sites.

[Chris J Anderson]

Thank you to All for your replies, a nice range of suggestions.

The sword is on its way from Japan, and I think its quite valuable.

I think I'll give this one a miss, and suggest he gets it etched / blasted somewhere that has previous experience.

Thanks again, as always the wide source of knowledge / opinion on this forum is very much appreciated.

Cheers,
Chris

[Tristan Ranatza]

I know I'm a little late but I usually go here if I have any questions about just about any material.
http://goo.gl/ZtCxMl
It's a good resource and has over 100,000 materials listed in the database.

[Chris J Anderson]

Thanks heaps Tristan,
I'm going there for a look now...