Nickel-aluminum alloys with different Ni2Al3 contents were prepared by controlling the induction current with intensity of 100 A, 250 A and 400 A. Two kinds of granular Raney nickel catalysts were prepared by pre-etching and two-step etching of the alloy with high Ni2Al3 content. The experimental results show that the catalyst obtained by the secondary etching method can catalyze the hydrogenation of 1,4-butynediol with a conversion rate of 100% and a BDO yield of 92% within one hour, while the pre-etching catalyst takes 3 hours to achieve the same BDO yield. The catalysts were characterized by ICP, BET, XRD, XPS and SEM. The results show that the specific surface area of the catalyst obtained by two-step etching method is larger than that of the pre-etching catalyst, the surface microstructure is more obvious, the content of Ni element is increased, and the dispersion of metal Ni is improved. The surface metal Al completely disappears, while the oxides of Al and Ni increase, which making the skeleton structure of the catalyst surface more stable, thus improving the catalytic activity of the catalyst.