Thank you all for your interest and comments.
I finished the etch, and moved to scrollwork on the reciever boss. I will finish the scenes later, probably when the scroll is all done.
At first I was a little nervous about switching to the patent palm control in the middle of a job, but I couldn't resist. The results are excellent, and I am also using the patent point design. I am resharpening it by hand, dragging it sideways on a diamond stone for the parallel belly flats, polishing, and then sharpening the 45 face on my diamond hone, followed by ceramic.
The results are better than what I was getting with my old methods, much to my suprise.