etching without acid

franklin

franklin

Well-Known Member
has anyone etched damascus with salt water and a 6 volt battery jumper saw a blk smith do it a couple times but cant remember were the + - go he had a metal rod in the salt water and 1 cable to yhat other to the blade handle and it looked great anyone see this done before?
 
I actually used this for my first couple of etches, switched to FeCl but switched back for my last couple. I used this site http://www.navaching.com/forge/etching.html for my first go but when I switched back from ferric, I swapped the the batteries for a power supply from an aquarium pump and used a Q tip as a hand pad. There are other ways of doing it, this was mine.
 
I use a cordless drill charger to etch blades. I was using 2 9v wired up in series but I found a nice 14v charger in the old cords box at home. I have the leads soldered into alligator clips. The Neg goes on the blade, the pos onto the "tip" part of a Qtip. Dunk that in a saturated solution of regular salt water and it will go thru the steel. I have my mother who's into scrapbooking and has a vinyl cutter make me some vinyl negatives that I put on and then etch over. You can also "engrave" pictures by brushing on some stolen nail polish and drawing with a needle. I tiger striped a crappy pocket knife with the nail polish method, but for professional results get you some stencils.
Kael
 
thanks guys that helped hate having acid around with a 7 year old that loves daddy's stuff if you have kids you now what i mean.ffkaelb i have a etcher for my makers mark this would be for a entire bar of damascus were you etch out the pattern in the whole bar.
 
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If you want to do a whole knife, you can also use vinegar, strong coffee or lemon juice. They may take a little longer but are less aggressive than acid.
 
I see, I have turned a few blades a darker color by putting the whole blade into a pvc pipe with saltwater and attaching a lead to the tang and the other to a cotton ball on the surface of the water. I almost never work with damascus though so I ain't real sure of all the intricacies. Good luck with it, I also just use vinegar to patina sometimes.
 
ta2edfreak said:
If you want to do a whole knife, you can also use vinegar, strong coffee or lemon juice. They may take a little longer but are less aggressive than acid.
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I have used vinegar for years to etch my damascus blades. It gives a lighter etch than other acids but i like the way it turns out. I have found if you bring it to a boil it etches very fast. I usually hold it in the boiling vinegar for a minute to a minute and a half, then neutralize with windex/baking soda, run under tap water to cool and use 0000 steel wool. Repeat until you get the results you like. After you get the results you want boil some water and baking soda and place the blade in it to set the etch. I also have tried lemon juice and boiling coka cola with similar results but it takes longer. If you do not want to use acids then I would recommend vinegar.
 
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