Makers Mark Cleanup ?

[SKIVIE]

I just finished a few knives and have noticed on a couple of them a "stain" being left behind after applying my Makers Mark. Its obviously the etchant solution thats causing it. I havent had this problem before and wondered what everyone does after they pull their stencil off and clean the blade. I have used the etchent cleaner, WD40 with steel wool, why its showing up now is where im lost.

Any help would be appreciated to hopefully stop this problem from happening in the future.

Shane

[Greg Covington]

I apply the mark at a point in the blade's finish that I can use some 400 grit paper to clean it up. This works very well.

[blgoode]

I have that problem too I try my best to get the etchant cleaned off but spray some wd-40 and steel wool a little. It will mask it some.

[SKIVIE]

Greg, That makes sense. Ill give that a try next time.

Brian, I Tried the WD 40 and steel wool this time on all three. its weird it only happened to two of them. I will have to go home and try and clean them up. Thanks for your help.

Shane

[Robert Dark]

Shane:

Have you tried putting a light coat of oil on the stencil area prior to etching your mark?

Sometimes I use oil, most of the time, I just wet everything down with a little "slobber".......

Sounds like you may be getting a little "leakage" around the edge of your stencil..........

A good seal, and short burst seemed to help with my stuff.

Robert

[SKIVIE]

Robert, Well now youve confused the heck out of me :-)

Evertime I do an etch, and I have several different Stencils depending on the size of the blade that I use, It is always wet under the stencil. Is it not suppose to be ?

I wet the pad down the do like you do....many short bursts. The Makers Mark comes out looking nice (thanks to help from others) and it even cleans up nice. The "filmy" appearance like it wasnt cleaned up doesnt show up till later.

Really has me confused.

Shane

[Daniel Koster]

you need to clean up with 400+ grit paper after you etch. get it deep enough to allow you room to clean up.

[SKIVIE]

Daniel, I think your right along with Greg's thought. These bldes were actually finished to a bead blast finish then the mark went on. Even Bead blasting might have aided in this problem if done after etching.

Shane

[Fred.Rowe]

If you apply a little alcohol atop the stencil after you have positioned it on the blade surface you will find that cohision draws the stencil to the surface. "Dab" with clean cotton cloth and begin your etch. If you use electrical tape to hold the stencil down watch the alc. it will loosen the tape. This will help with those stray etches and ghosting. As others have said here;doing the etch at a time when you can use 400 grit paper is a good plan. Jams, Fred

[howiesatwork]

You might want to cut down the amount of etchant on the pad. If it's even slightly wet, it will get wicked up under the stencil.

[SKIVIE]

I very well could be using to much etchant. Good thought.

Fred, That might be something worth trying. Thanks for all the responses.

Shane

[Mace]

Hey Shane...I'm new to using the stencil too...here are some tips I picked up.

After you put on the etchant...dab it on a paper towle a few times.
I've been doing mine at three sec. intervals about 30 times(I like em deep)

After etch I clean it with windex and then some acetone.

I then use a Q-tip and apply Birchwood casey super blue to the mark...then clean up with 400 grit.
Comes out great!
Mace

[bladsmth]

Mace is on to the problem.After the etch all residual chemicals have to be neutralized or they will come out of the steel to haunt you later.Windex,ammonia,or TSP make good cleaners.

[Robert Dark]

Originally Posted by SKIVIE

Robert, Well now youve confused the heck out of me :-)

Evertime I do an etch, and I have several different Stencils depending on the size of the blade that I use, It is always wet under the stencil. Is it not suppose to be ?

Shane:

When I spoke of "oil" or "slobber" , I was referring to it being under the stencil to do two things.......... One, it helps to hold the stencil material flat to the blade, and Two, it seems to help prevent your etchant from "oozing" into places where it should not be.

As others have stated, if your pad is "too wet", you will get stains around your etch. It is always a good idea to "neutralize" the etchant on your blade after you etch.

In addition to windex, amonia, TSP, and some of the other things mentioned, you can get a quart of "Neutralizer" fairly reasonable from IMG-ELECTROMARK. It will last forever. Contact Patricia at pbruno@img-electromark.com

Sorry for the confusion........... Robert

[SKIVIE]

Thanks for all the comments:

Mace: Very good advice. Im really thinking now that I am using too much etchant. What bothers me is that I do use windex, acetone etc to try and eliminate this problem and it still efected the blade. I 400 gt would definatelly solve that problem.

Robert, Your comments actually didnt confuse me just made me wonder if I wasnt suppose to be getting any etchant under my stencil. Now just realize im using too much etchant. Ill be etching more blades soon so I have a lot of notes to go by.

Thanks a ton guys.

Shane

[SKIVIE]

I was also going to mention that I took those blades back to the Bead Blast Cabinet and hit them real good. It took the "Mess" away real quick and gave the Makers Mark a nice satin finish. It actually looked pretty cool. I brought these blades to work along with a couple others Ive done. The others are deep and black and these are deep with the nice satin finish. Everyone liked the Bead Blasted ones the best. Maybe im on to a new style of Makers Mark Finish for myself. :-)

Shane