Stainless Damascus billet, ROSE Pattern, PRE-HARDENED 58 HRC

I have made 6 knives using this steel and a couple with the ladder pattern stainless San mi and have been quite impressed I would have given 5 stars but my experience with other stainless Damascus products is limited. Overall I found it a bit tougher to grind and a good sharp belt is most important the cheap belts just don't like it but that doesn't surprise me being pre hardened. Also drilling is tough but sharpened good quality masonry bit did the job. I etched in sulfuric acid and while it took a while it etched quite well and I did go for a deep etch. I found the sulfuric worked well I did attempt to etch in ferric chloride but it just wasn't doing much. Can't tell you the exact concentration of sulfuric acid but it was a bottle from a battery specialist so whatever concentration that's used for car batteries worked quite well. Overall very happy with the results