Acid Etching On Metal.

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

A possible project that may be comming up, in which I may be involved is Acid Etching Metal, for a decorative effect.

I have a basic idea o how, what etc.

My questions are:

Best place I can get supllies?

E Bay is not an option here. If it goes through MIS we need a shop we can order direct from.

Any extra H&S concerns?

Apart from the common sense ones.

Any tips or advice from members who have done acid etching on metal?

Any good short cuts, best place to buy. Those sort of things.

What common mistakes can I expect to make, or what can go wrong and how best to advoide.

This is a protentioal idea for a Mini MIS. So I will have certain rules I will have to follow.

I must stress, this is a early investigation into the possibilty of doing a new fun project.

Thanks in advance.


EDIT.
I should mention it will be on Steel.

 

[cardiffrob]

Only done it on Aluminium but have bought a sheet of Brass to try so I can get stuff chromed. Mostly have sent images to a signwriter who cuts them in plastic meant for putting on the side of Vans etc. Have also tried Laser printing onto magazine covers and photo paper but not quite got the technique right yet. Ferric Chloride. Nasty stuff and not easy to dispose of. Adding heat starts a more vigourous action but you can get a thermal run-away easily. I infill with paint and the sand down.

 

[cardiffrob]

 

[Seadog]

Salt and electricity?

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Salt and electricity?

Does it work on steel?

On phone, so not able to look at video.

 

[Shox Dr]

Salt and electricity?

could you not use that to cut your valve shims

 

[Seadog]

Does it work on steel?

Yes.

could you not use that to cut your valve shims

It was suggested. My first problem is sourcing the material.

 

[Shox Dr]

Yes.




It was suggested. My first problem is sourcing the material.

You missed the boat has left on that one. I’ve got (and still have) Kasinet and SS shin steel

 

[Seadog]

I don't remember that.

0.015" (0.36mm)?

 

[Shox Dr]

I don't remember that.

0.015" (0.36mm)?

You won’t. I have mentioned it.

Shall I post my workshop keys down

 

[cardiffrob]

Oh, Ferric Chloride leaves nasty marks on new Formica worktops.

 

[Morris]

Does it work on steel?

On phone, so not able to look at video.

It works very well. I electro etched the VIN plate for wifey's ford pop. Ignore the D it was full of dust. Depth was about 1mm ish.

 

[Seadog]

Shall I post my workshop keys down

How about posting your workshop down?

 

[hotponyshoes]

I had a quick go once, a mate was trying to put some logos on knife blades,
We used a mop electro type thing (like you would use for cleaning stainless welds)
The mops we used were a bit course, finer one gives a smoother finish.
Looks better if the metal is really smooth(polished first.

We tried homemade solutions but the commercial one made it much blacker.

We were using shot-blast templates, I think the template was too thick as we got fuzzy edges around the logo.
The homemade solution worked slower and I think that gave it more time to seep under the edges of the template mask and, again, fuzzy edges.
Never took it any further as he started making stainless blades and they would get polished and the logo shot blasted instead..

If I was going into knife making I would look into having a stamp made (or cnc engraving) and filling with resin, done that sort of thing before and it looks good. Fill with a syringe and you can raise up the resin to give a good 3d effect.

 

[Kayos]

Oh, Ferric Chloride leaves nasty marks on new Formica worktops.

It doesn't like stainless sinks either, mum still complains about that more than 20 years later

 

[Shox Dr]

How about posting your workshop down?

I’ll put the Tom Senior in the post. Let me know when it arrives

 

[Seadog]

 

[Stupoty]

View attachment 227556 View attachment 227557

Only done it on Aluminium but have bought a sheet of Brass to try so I can get stuff chromed. Mostly have sent images to a signwriter who cuts them in plastic meant for putting on the side of Vans etc. Have also tried Laser printing onto magazine covers and photo paper but not quite got the technique right yet. Ferric Chloride. Nasty stuff and not easy to dispose of. Adding heat starts a more vigourous action but you can get a thermal run-away easily. I infill with paint and the sand down.

I've used the ferric chloride for PCB etching quite a bit and found it to be quite user friendly , just a bit messy. Mostly don't even bother with gloves.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

This project is on hold.
Not sure for how long, the person who's idea it was, is now unwell.

So I will put looking into etching Celtic designs into metal on hold.

Thanks for the information.

 

[Reman]

Salt and electricity?

That was 10 years back and Bruce Simpson looks older there than he does now !!!
Fascinating bloke, And bleedin' talented when it comes to electronics and RC aviation....... He once got into a bit of hot water for building a proof of concept home brewed cruise missile !!!
Sadly, The poor bloke got diagnosed with Parkinson's last year, But somehow he seems to be slowing it's progress pretty convincingly through diet and exercise.

Anyway, This is a pretty interesting idea. I've been thinking about making a brass manufactures nameplate to go on my little lathe for when I get around to stripping, Cleaning, Painting and rebuilding it. Originally it had a little red oblong painted on with gold stenciled lettering, But I keep thinking I'd like get someone with a desktop CNC mill to make a professional looking 1/8" thick brass manufacturers name plate for it, then enamel the recesses red and polish it up. It would be a totally pointless exercise, really, But it's really quite a pretty example of wartime British home engineering kit, So I think it would be nice to bring it back to it's former glory (Plus add a few easily reversible tweeks to make it more usable). Problem is that there's a lot of small lettering on the period correct name plate design I roughed out, So it would take ages on a CNC mini mill....... But the idea of electro "Eroding" the gaps out from around the letters didn't occur to me. I think I need to do a bit more research on this process.