Good question, Stan.
Ken those barrels are looking great. Trying to polish up a set of barrels makes the damascus work I've seen Bachelder and others put out even more amazing. The colors are obviously very nice. Consistency of the polish they achieve is a headscratcher to a noob such as myself.
For pattern-welded barrels it's not only the initial polishing before rusting, but the final polishing as well. That's where my current "learning curve" is. On previous sets everything would be excellent through the rusting and etching cycles, yet the final polishing to bring out the contrast and figure would be lacking. I'm finally getting to the point where it's happening, and I'm fairly comfortable with the process. In fact, all my barrels have not yet had the final lacquer put on them, and the temporary rust inhibitor as well as the lighting results in a slightly yellowish cast to the color. The black-white contrast will be much stronger once I'm done with them. My next step is to buy a couple of "Daylight" bulbs for my lighting fixture.
