Q: Deep Etching 303 Stainless
 

Galileo wrote:

Hello Group,

I am currently in love with the look of 303 stainless steel jewelry
and I would like to experiment with etchinig designs into the steel.

Does anyone have a recommendation for deeply etching 303? I have read
David Boye's book which recommends bee's wax masks and nitric-muriatic
acid baths for tool steel. I have also read that PCB etchant, ferric
chloride, and PCB resist, also works. I would expect a deep etch from
FeCl to take a very long time. Galvanic etching perhaps?

I would appreciate any advice the group may have on etching 303 in the
small shop.

Thanks,
-Galileo

Deep Etching 303 Stainless
 

"Galileo" wrote in message
m...
Galileo wrote:

Hello Group,

I am currently in love with the look of 303 stainless steel jewelry
and I would like to experiment with etchinig designs into the steel.

Does anyone have a recommendation for deeply etching 303? I have read
David Boye's book which recommends bee's wax masks and nitric-muriatic
acid baths for tool steel. I have also read that PCB etchant, ferric
chloride, and PCB resist, also works. I would expect a deep etch from
FeCl to take a very long time. Galvanic etching perhaps?

I would appreciate any advice the group may have on etching 303 in the
small shop.

Thanks,
-Galileo

I can't lend much to the etching process of 303, but I can assure you,
having worked with aqua-regia (nitric-muriatic acid baths) for over 20 years
in the precious metal refining business, that if you use any of it anywhere
near your shop, you'll end up with rust on any and everything made from
iron. The fumes that are liberated, even when just being stored, are
horrible. Be certain you have a place to do this kind of work that is
secure (safety) and isolated from your tools.

Harold

Q: Deep Etching 303 Stainless
 

Galileo wrote...

I am currently in love with the look of 303 stainless steel jewelry
and I would like to experiment with etchinig designs into the steel.

Does anyone have a recommendation for deeply etching 303? I have read
David Boye's book which recommends bee's wax masks and nitric-muriatic
acid baths for tool steel. I have also read that PCB etchant, ferric
chloride, and PCB resist, also works. I would expect a deep etch from
FeCl to take a very long time. Galvanic etching perhaps?

I would appreciate any advice the group may have on etching 303 in the
small shop.


Your best option may be electrochemical etching. It's an easy and safe
process, and I have had good luck with it. Beware the commercially
available equipment for it, though, it is ridiculously expensive. The
process, materials, and equipment are quite simple, but information is
closely guarded within the industry. Bob Warner, a knifemaker, has from
time to time posted some useful information about the process and
equipment on various knife forums. His tutorials page (check out
"Electro-Etcher" and "Stencil Exposure unit") provides a good starting
point:

http://www.warnerknives.com/tutorials.htm

Some Google searches should fill in the gaps.

Good luck,

Jim

Q: Deep Etching 303 Stainless
 

Jim Wilson wrote in message nk.net...
Galileo wrote...

I am currently in love with the look of 303 stainless steel jewelry
and I would like to experiment with etchinig designs into the steel.

Does anyone have a recommendation for deeply etching 303? I have read
David Boye's book which recommends bee's wax masks and nitric-muriatic
acid baths for tool steel. I have also read that PCB etchant, ferric
chloride, and PCB resist, also works. I would expect a deep etch from
FeCl to take a very long time. Galvanic etching perhaps?

I would appreciate any advice the group may have on etching 303 in the
small shop.


Your best option may be electrochemical etching. It's an easy and safe
process, and I have had good luck with it. Beware the commercially
available equipment for it, though, it is ridiculously expensive. The
process, materials, and equipment are quite simple, but information is
closely guarded within the industry. Bob Warner, a knifemaker, has from
time to time posted some useful information about the process and
equipment on various knife forums. His tutorials page (check out
"Electro-Etcher" and "Stencil Exposure unit") provides a good starting
point:

http://www.warnerknives.com/tutorials.htm

Some Google searches should fill in the gaps.

Good luck,

Jim

Thank you for the link, it looks like a great process. I would rather
use electricity than strong acids any day.

What did you use for your resist? I am thinking of using bee's wax
and asphaultum as Boye recommends, but it seems like there must be
some modern improvement from 1970's tech. I saw a passing reference
to floor wax tinted with food coloring.

Almost time to stop reading and start "doing."

-Galileo.

Q: Deep Etching 303 Stainless
 

Galileo wrote...

Thank you for the link, it looks like a great process. I would rather
use electricity than strong acids any day.


Me, too.

What did you use for your resist?

I've been very happy with the photo-sensitive stencils. I create the
image on the computer, print it on a LaserJet to make a contact mask, and
expose the film using simple light box that I made.

Jim

Q: Deep Etching 303 Stainless
 

What is the electrolyte used?

-- Greg

"Jim Wilson" wrote in message
k.net...
Galileo wrote...

Thank you for the link, it looks like a great process. I would rather
use electricity than strong acids any day.


Me, too.

What did you use for your resist?

I've been very happy with the photo-sensitive stencils. I create the
image on the computer, print it on a LaserJet to make a contact mask, and
expose the film using simple light box that I made.

Jim

Q: Deep Etching 303 Stainless
 

Greg Dermer wrote...
What is the electrolyte used?

For stainless, I hear that the commercial ones are best, but I don't
know from experience. Last summer, I got samples of three different
electrolytes from IMG, intending to experiment with them on different
steels, but I haven't got round to doing that yet. The price was very
reasonable -- if I recall correctly, the samples were free (I was
ordering stencil material at the time). If they did charge me for the
electrolyte, it was something like five bucks.

My contact was Patricia Bruno, and she was very helpful. She also
mentioned something about an inexpensive "knifemaker's sample pack" with
five different electrolytes that they were planning to offer.

http://www.img-electromark.com/catalog3.php

Snoop around their web site for some good basic information on the
process and equipment in general.

Anyway, I have used the SC-50 on O1 and it works very well. However, I
have also had good results with a homebrew electrolyte composed of about
equal parts of potassium chloride and salt in water. It works even better
with a bit of muriatic acid added. I had been experimenting around with
this before I got the stuff from IMG, and it worked pretty well. I got
the "recipe" from a paper on sheet metal strain studies.

The original recipe in the paper was:
potassium chloride, 80g
sodium chloride, 90g
nitric acid, 100ml
hydrochloric acid, 100ml
water, 4.5L

I didn't have any nitric acid, so I just winged it with what I had on
hand and it worked well enough. I had previously tried various
concentrations of just salt and water, with poor results.

BTW, the whole process is well within reach of the do-it-yourselfer. I
made both the light box to expose the stencils and the electro-etcher for
a fraction of what commercial units cost, and all from information
available on the web.

Good luck!

Jim

Q: Deep Etching 303 Stainless
 

In article t, Jim
Wilson wrote:

Galileo wrote...

Bob Warner, a knifemaker, has from
time to time posted some useful information about the process and
equipment on various knife forums. His tutorials page (check out
"Electro-Etcher" and "Stencil Exposure unit") provides a good starting
point:

http://www.warnerknives.com/tutorials.htm

There is also a wealth of information about electro-etching at the
Custom Knife Directory forums:

http://www.ckdforums.com

Bob Warner is co-moderator of the tool forum.

When you get there, use the blue search button at the top of the screen
and type in "etching" or "stencil." You'll get dozens of hits and one
or two very good tutorials.

-chib

--
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