Carding, and boiling at the end

[Bill Graham]

These are from a Smith hammer gun I finished this week. Still without a logwood tank, but hope to have one sorted out soon.

These photos are mid-day, overcast. They'd look brighter overall in direct sun perhaps, and then possibly over-dark inside a room. The hue is the same in person, even though the underside looks lighter, it isn't really. Four coats of wax.

I still find myself using baking soda as a soft slurry for carding after etching. I like it. In a way it's flexible, in that you can use less or more, impregnating some steel wool or just fingertips, depending on how you need to deal with irregularities in the effectiveness of the etching. Calcium cabonate (whiting) is what Dr. Gaddy wrote about, and will try that also, but the soda accomplishes the same purpose and neutralizes the acid. Still working on it.

On the list to sort out is the coating of the bores with urethane or shellac without making a big mess.