No....never mess with it again. Everything I do to the blade, will be completed by the time I etch. The etch is the dead last thing I do to the blade itself. At that point I attach to the guard, handle and finish.

The second knife in that thread is a full tang knife. It requires another step. I finish the blade and handles completely...its finished. Then, I remove the handles and etch the blade. After the poly, etc, I reattach the handles and finish. The point being is that I want the tang of the blade in the handle to be etched too. I want it to show off the same grain as the blade does. I can't etch and then sand the handles to fit...that would remove the etch! So I finish it on out and then backtrack, removing the handles before I etch. Incidentally, that knife went to an editor of Sporting Classics Magazine. Cute little bird and trout knife.

Hank

Another one:

[Linked Image]

Last edited by Godogs57; 06/17/18.
You only live once, but...if you do it right, once is enough.