Advice on vinegar etching some blades

K

Kenadian

Joined
Apr 9, 2016
Messages
8
Hello

I am in fact a newbie knife maker. That said I am wondering if someone would be able to take a few minutes out of their day to give me some ideas on etching with vinegar? I have ground a few different blades. Some out of 440C stainless and a couple others out of some different files. (Nicholson and Simmonds which I understand have some fairly acceptable steel as well.) Anyway none of them are heat treated or tempered yet. Is this the time to do it? Or should I wait till heat treat is done or does it just matter what finish look I am looking for? Honestly I am just looking for something different looking. I can't seem to find any info on that portion of things on youtube or anywhere else. I figure someone around here should know. Anyway that's my dilemma today.


Thanks
Kenadian

PS Any advice on heat treating file steel for knives would be appreciated too.
 
You might get more help in the knife makers section.
 
Kenadian said:
Hello

I am in fact a newbie knife maker. That said I am wondering if someone would be able to take a few minutes out of their day to give me some ideas on etching with vinegar? I have ground a few different blades. Some out of 440C stainless and a couple others out of some different files. (Nicholson and Simmonds which I understand have some fairly acceptable steel as well.) Anyway none of them are heat treated or tempered yet. Is this the time to do it? Or should I wait till heat treat is done or does it just matter what finish look I am looking for? Honestly I am just looking for something different looking. I can't seem to find any info on that portion of things on youtube or anywhere else. I figure someone around here should know. Anyway that's my dilemma today.


Thanks
Kenadian

PS Any advice on heat treating file steel for knives would be appreciated too.
Click to expand...
Etching for sure after heat treating.

Also the more stainless the steel the harder it will be to etch.

Different steels with different heat treatments will react differently with different acids. Vinegar and muriatic acid are quite common however I like phosphoric acid which is in grout cleaner. It's good at reversing rust under air exclusion.
Factors like dilution, soaking time, air exposure and temperature add even more variables.
It's pretty much trial and error.

One more thing, even the most stainless steel can be etched with electricity.
 
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