It was awesome! 2 days with Boneyard London, on their Forge a Kitchen Knife course. It’s not cheap, but it was worth it, we started with a billet that had a basic squared shape, then hammered out the shape we wanted.
The etching was done before a handle was attached, dipped in a solution of ferric chloride, not sure if theirs had coffee already in there, but for this one I’ll do it separately as they advised me when I asked over email yesterday:
Yes if you’ve started sanding you’ll definitely need to ferric etch first before bothering with any coffee.
In terms of advice, stick with the 220 until all the scratches are away, and only then work up the grits. Just a time waste to do anything else.
For etching, go for a 2/1 water/ferric solution, try 10 mins at first, then sand with some 2000+ grit sandpaper, and re-etch for a further 5-10 mins, and then gently clean with the 2000+ again. Then, stick into some high strength coffee with the handle wrapped tightly, and every hour or so, rinse off with cold water and check. Once it looks dark enough, give a clean with a paper towel until bone dry, and then oil.
The handle was then attached to a wood blank and spacer and bolster, which I then sanded down to the shape I wanted, then buffed. (I left some vice marks on it recently so may need to touch it up if we’ve got the tools).
Here it is before I messed about with it lol
