Damascus not etching.

Mark Barone

Mark Barone

Well-Known Member
Can’t figure it out. A couple of weeks ago I etched this knife. Then with the scraps of the Damascus I am making this pendent. Same Damascus, same container of acid. It won’t etch. The acid isn’t old, it has been cold in the basement so I warmed it a little before etching. Can acid just fizz out . It was really good a few weeks ago. I cleaned the pendant with alcohol and it sat in there for almost two hours. 00AFFC6E-4A48-436F-99C3-18771BA2F24B.jpeg7BD36AC3-2619-4F17-9301-0C3C8CCEFABD.jpeg
 
Possibles:
***are you 100% certain it is a "scrap" of the Damascus??*** Sometimes the simplest solution is the correct one. ;)
1. Etchant contaminated?
2. Item not finished to proper grit/finish
3. Did you happen to buff the item? If so that is a HUGE no, no!
4. CLEAN!! can't be overstated.... well (I recommend acetone and gloves to protect the item)
5. Possible film atop etchant (if you can see a slight film atop the liquid, surface tension puts it on the item and keeps it from etching)...if there, clean the film off with a BLUE SHOP paper towel
6. Did you happen to use a common white paper towel? It looks to me like you did. Anything other than the scott brand blue shop towels contain some chemical that leave a film on items, and they will not etch.

Whew.... bout outta idea now. Think about things and see if any of the above might have happened/apply.
 
Good thoughts. I appreciate the help.
I don’t think the acid is contaminated I just used it, but I am ordering more anyway.
I tried acetone also, but did use regular Bounty which I always do. I do wear gloves.
I don’t buff, but wonder if a really worn out cheap belt will “ buff it” I feel I was almost down to the paper.
Even if I wasn’t down to the proper grit, I feel like it would have at least blackened.
I will try a few things in the morning.
 
EdCaffreyMS said:
Possibles:
***are you 100% certain it is a "scrap" of the Damascus??*** Sometimes the simplest solution is the correct one. ;)
1. Etchant contaminated?
2. Item not finished to proper grit/finish
3. Did you happen to buff the item? If so that is a HUGE no, no!
4. CLEAN!! can't be overstated.... well (I recommend acetone and gloves to protect the item)
5. Possible film atop etchant (if you can see a slight film atop the liquid, surface tension puts it on the item and keeps it from etching)...if there, clean the film off with a BLUE SHOP paper towel
6. Did you happen to use a common white paper towel? It looks to me like you did. Anything other than the scott brand blue shop towels contain some chemical that leave a film on items, and they will not etch.

Whew.... bout outta idea now. Think about things and see if any of the above might have happened/apply.
Click to expand...
Lol I’m certain it’s damacus because it had the stock etching before I sanded it.
Good thoughts. I appreciate the help.
I don’t think the acid is contaminated I just used it, but I am ordering more anyway.
I tried acetone also, but did use regular Bounty which I always do. I do wear gloves.
I don’t buff, but wonder if a really worn out cheap belt will “ buff it” I feel I was almost down to the paper.
Even if I wasn’t down to the proper grit, I feel like it would have at least blackened.
I will try a few things in the morning.
 
Just a thought but did you heat treat the pendant? Heat treated steel etches differently than non-heattreated. Along the lines of being contaminated, I've heard that just a few drops of ammonia will ruin a whole batch of ferric chloride. So if you were spraying windex anywhere near the etchant while uncovered that could do it. Other than that....I wish you luck!
 
if you were spraying windex anywhere near the etchant while uncovered that could do it.
Click to expand...
ABSOLUTELY! I had a tank "die" on me once.....and spent an entire day trying to figure out what happened..... a few droplets of windex!!!
 
For the record, I did a test of the whole "a few drops of Windex will kill a whole batch of ferric chloride" thing a few weeks ago.......debunked.

I sprayed 3 full direct sprays of Windex into a 1 ounce cup of ferric chloride...stirred it around and it etched a Damascus scrap just perfectly. I have it all on full un-edited video if anyone is interested and encourage anyone else to try it.

So that's probably not the issue.

My first thought was the pendant needs to be hardened and tempered just like the blade for good etching.

Hardened AND tempered martensite etches much better with much more definition and contrast than unhardened steel.
 
J. Doyle said:
For the record, I did a test of the whole "a few drops of Windex will kill a whole batch of ferric chloride" thing a few weeks ago.......debunked.

I sprayed 3 full direct sprays of Windex into a 1 ounce cup of ferric chloride...stirred it around and it etched a Damascus scrap just perfectly. I have it all on full un-edited video if anyone is interested and encourage anyone else to try it.

So that's probably not the issue.

My first thought was the pendant needs to be hardened and tempered just like the blade for good etching.

Hardened AND tempered martensite etches much better with much more definition and contrast than unhardened steel.
Click to expand...
Yes it’s not hardened. I don’t need to for jewelry obviously.. so that could be the issue. But I have made several pieces in the past without hardening,
After thinking I realized this isn’t the same Damascus as the knife. So I started to think about maybe it isn’t Damascus. But I did see the pattern before I sanded. Are there some fake Damascus where the pattern is only on the outside? I wouldn’t know how that was created.
 
That is weird for sure.

It looks like some faint pattern layers are visible in your first pic.

You might try hanging it on a wire and heating with a torch. Get it good and red/orange and let it air cool a few times. Then heat it to non-magnetic and quench it. Just to see what happens.

It might solve the problem or at least rule some stuff out?
 
J. Doyle said:
That is weird for sure.

It looks like some faint pattern layers are visible in your first pic.

You might try hanging it on a wire and heating with a torch. Get it good and red/orange and let it air cool a few times. Then heat it to non-magnetic and quench it. Just to see what happens.

It might solve the problem or at least rule some stuff out?
Click to expand...

I will give it a shot. Seems like the logical thing to do. Star Trek Pendent reference .
 
Mark Barone said:
Ya know, that’s the feeling I got when I was grinding it. I felt like I hit a layer of straight stainless steel or something. I will try to heat treat it. Will it look different. Will o still get a big layer of carbon on it if it’s all stainless?
Click to expand...
 
Rule out acid by attempting the etch in white vinegar. If it works, it was the acid. If not, I would HT it like John said. If the same piece of Damascus etched in that acid previously when you were doing a knife then it has to be either the acid or lack of HT.
 
Mystery solved. The acid was contaminated somehow. I finally received a new bottle and it worked well on my piece. I wish I knew what contaminated it. I probably did about 4 knives in it. Unless maybe that’s all you get?
 

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I am glad it worked. In answer to your question you should get way more than a few knives from your acid. I have etched many knives in mine. As a precaution, when I etch, If I am going to put the blade back into the acid, I only clean and polish with the cotton wadding stuff Gene suggested then rubbing alcohol. I save the windex for the final clean up (I know what my friend JD said above but neutralizer is neutralizer I do not want any of it in my acid).
 
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