Chemistry help - Acid Etching

izafireman

izafireman

Well-Known Member
Hopefully there are a few who are good at chemistry here as I need help with a Hydrochloric acid solution which I need to mix in order to etch a couple of stainless steel knife blanks I have ground out.

The hydrochloric acid I bought is a 36% strength mixture.
The volume of my etching chamber is 2.3 litres

So what I need to know is, what ratio of acid to water would I need to make 2.3 litres @ 15- 20 %

Many thanks.

P
 
Correct me if I am wrong. But, if you have 36% acid solution and want 18% acid solution then you would mix your dillutant at 50%. Meaning you need 1.15 liters of acid solution and 1.15 liters of dillutant.

Correct??? I suck at stuff like this.

BTW: If I am correct, what did I win??
 
Now Dennis, you can see how utterly useless I am a maths as it became clear when I saw your answer :oops:, I am honestly terrible where maths is concerned :(

And congratulations you won first place for the quickest answer :)...your winner's cheque is in the post :D:D

Thanks for answering this Dennis.
 
Dennis Morland said:
Correct me if I am wrong. But, if you have 36% acid solution and want 18% acid solution then you would mix your dillutant at 50%. Meaning you need 1.15 liters of acid solution and 1.15 liters of dillutant.

Correct??? I suck at stuff like this.

BTW: If I am correct, what did I win??
Click to expand...
Nailed it.
 
Not that I know anything about etching stainless.... but, why 18%. Wouldn't 36% etch perhaps twice as fast?
And... pardon me for the dumb question, why are you etching the stainless steel?
 
MTBob said:
Not that I know anything about etching stainless.... but, why 18%. Wouldn't 36% etch perhaps twice as fast?
And... pardon me for the dumb question, why are you etching the stainless steel?
Click to expand...


The steel is Markus Balach stainless Damascus and so I am going by their recommendations. Also I figured that the lower levels of strength are most likely safer.

Hence I am going for just over the smallest practical volume for my needs at the moment and also erring on the weaker side. Also with the smaller volume I can heat the vessel I am using as the thank (PVC soil pipe with blanking cap) out side in a larger vessel which I can heat.

Its also the first time I have attempted any of this so I might be doing thigs wrong?
 
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