on target shooter nz: Instant Coffee Etch - for your Gun's "DAMASCUS" Looks.

Tuesday, 16 September 2025

Instant Coffee Etch - for your Gun's "DAMASCUS" Looks.

Please - Don't drink this stuff - try black tea or green tea or even pure water first .. or make real coffee in a plunger pot from freshly ground beans. - Nothing advertized as instant can be good. - Never consume that crap that tastes like processed sewage. - If you want to appreciate exactly how processed sewage tastes - try drinking tap-water in Sydney Australia - even their homeless prefer beer.

From time-to-time you may find an old knife or gun barrel made from pattern welded steel that is generally called "DAMASCUS" steel - which it is not. There are a lot of expensive knives being made currently with pattern-welded steel blades. - REAL Damascus steel was high carbon WOOTZ steel having natural manganese, nickel, and tungsten - SOLD in the Near East City of DAMASCUS from ores or billettes of metal from India and Sri Lanka. These strong blades had a water textured appearance ..

Old Real Damascus or Wootz Steel.

The antique Pattern Welded iron and steel barrels are an Art Form that grew out of gunmakers and iron workers attempts to strengthen gun barrels to better resist the explosive force of Gunpowder by folding and laminating different iron alloys.

Look at THAT

Never for one minute think that those folk in Olden Times were dumb .. I've got two nice wee 175 y.o. antique pistols with pattern welded "damascus" barrels that are faded by time. - Now "experts" would tell me to leave them alone but of-course I'm going to try improve their looks. - I don't want to renew the finish .. but rather to enhance the contrast & beauty of the patterning while keeping it's aged look.

Observant Shooters will note the barrels of the 'Double' are REGULATED TO CONVERGE.

Going by this image - both guns look OKish but I'll have a go at the single barrelled piece first because as received it does have some rust in the bore to be cured anyway.

The word is that cheap, hot, strong INSTANT COFFEE (perhaps with a little added lemon juice?) will refresh "damascus steel" from a grey textured surface and return it's interesting patterning contrast. Phosphoric and other organic acids in the instant brew cause the darkening while careful bright polishing of the highlights is needed. - I am not trying to deepen the metal's etch - I want to restore and beautify the contrast between the shining highlights and the blackened lowpoints.

God that soluble-stuff is crap .. I dumped half a pouch of $6.30 freeze-dri instant - dissolved in boiled water into a glass 'handle' and left the kitchen, to clear my nose of the stench of it. - It stinks like dog shit from a sugar fed pekingese. - I hope it doesn't etch the glass.

- This is after 45 minutes in the freeze-dri-etchant and flushing clean with boiling water ..