Salt Water Etching Tutorial

[Buck Hedges 13]

Would wax work for a resist? My family goes through a lot of "Baby Bel" cheese, and all the wax got squished into a large block. I grabbed it with the idea of using it for projects like this, and for casting, but before I assault some innocent blade with it, I thought I'd see if anyone else has tried it.

[C.Anderson 13]

Wax will work if it is well affixed to the blade (no loose gaps etc). The only difficulty then is getting a clear image out of it .

[Buck Hedges 13]

I was going to melt the wax, dip the blade in, and when it was cool, cut the design (my maker's mark, in this case) into it. Once it was etched, I'd heat treat the blade, which would remove the rest of the wax.

 

I think I'll give it a shot on a lesser blade or piece of scrap metal before I attack one of my pet projects with it.

[MattShindel 0]

Chris - this is a superb tutorial. I've tested it with DC transformer and now working on my logo stencil.

 

It was great meeting you in person during our last AKCA meeting. Hope to see you there again.

[Jason McEntee 57]

I was looking at getting an Electro Chem Personalizer, until I found this thread! Awesome tutorial---now I just have to design a mark.

[Jason McEntee 57]

This tutorial was spot on, thanks again. However, I found that a simple 12 volt / 2 amp power supply was more than adequate. All the new battery chargers they sell now have a built in safety feature, to where they will not send current down the leads unless a battery is connected.  With this setup, it only took a couple of minutes to get a nice deep etch.

For my stencils, and old friend from high school owns a sign shop. He made my stencils in exchange for me sharpening his kitchen knives!

Edited November 6, 2017 by Jason McEntee
Fixed image links.

[Eric Dennis 16]

Any way to gain access to these photos again?

Thanks,

[Alan Longmire 2,323]

PM the guys who posted on Photobucket and ask them if they can re-up the photos straight to the forum.  I haven't seen Chris around here lately though...

[Jason McEntee 57]

On 8/31/2017 at 4:18 AM, Eric Dennis said:

Any way to gain access to these photos again?

Thanks,

Fixed mine. Right above your post. 

[Charles dP 414]

Thanks Jason

[JohnCenter 1]

I am curious to try this, but have no electrical experience or understanding! Can someone please explain what the the dangers of electrical shock are. Also, what to do or not to do to avoid being shocked?

@Jason McEntee- Your mark came out really well! Two questions:
- Was that with the salt water mixture as the tutorial described? Or did you use another solution?
- You wrote, "I found that a simple 12 volt / 2 amp power supply was more than adequate." Could you post a  link to the product so I can have a better idea of what I need to buy or lend? I'm not sure what that box with the red and black wires coming out of it is.

[Jason McEntee 57]

On ‎1‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 8:01 AM, JohnCenter said:

I am curious to try this, but have no electrical experience or understanding! Can someone please explain what the the dangers of electrical shock are. Also, what to do or not to do to avoid being shocked?

@Jason McEntee- Your mark came out really well! Two questions:
- Was that with the salt water mixture as the tutorial described? Or did you use another solution?
- You wrote, "I found that a simple 12 volt / 2 amp power supply was more than adequate." Could you post a  link to the product so I can have a better idea of what I need to buy or lend? I'm not sure what that box with the red and black wires coming out of it is.

I used very salty water...I didn't go with a certain ratio or the like. Here's a link to the power supply I use:

Power Supply

You'll need to get the leads and the alligator clips as well. Any electronics store should have these items. Cheers!

[JohnCenter 1]

Experimented the other night. I used a piece of annealed and a piece of tempered carbon steel. Used nail polish as a resist and just quickly scratched some letters with a safety pin. Cut the end of a laptop power supply cord and hooked up the wires with alligator clips. Worked quite well. Definitely going to refine the setup and buy some stickers. One note worth sharing is make sure you have your positive and negative correct. Only works one way!

[Gary LT 62]

This tutorial has been what I used to etch my touché mark. Fedex Office was fantastic and took my single “G” stamp, (homemade) and used font types which blended perfectly. 

That was about 5 years ago. My local Fedex doesn’t do vinyl stenciling and so I am looking for a source who can copy from a photos graph. I have the font types and size used, I just need someone to creat the vectors and do the printing. 

Anyone had a similar issue? I am about to contact Ernie @ Blue lightning Stencils?

kind regards, Gary LT

[Katie 0]

Is it possible to add etching to a pocket knife blade without having to remove the handle? 

[Alan Longmire 2,323]

With this technique, yes.

[David Pessall 17]

Can this be applied to O1 tool steel after heat treatment?

[Alan Longmire 2,323]

Yes.  

[David Pessall 17]

Thanks Alan!