I wonder what the key is to get it Even and Deep. Maybe washing off the residue with a tooth brush in-between each session, fresh q tips often....?
So the DC to deepen is really simple. I usually go 5 to 10 minutes per side, 8minutes seems to be the key. And sometimes you may need to degrease the logo to get off oil. Go easy and do not use any hard metal brushes to scrub. An old soft toothbrush works great.
I prefer the really deep etches and as long as you keep the pad or q-tip moving, it should be really crisp and even. I recommend doing the etching as soon as possible, cause once you start using the knife, there is a chance that the coating will wear or that the metal on the logo will get oil or patina or even rust. It is best to use the out of the box knives but any will do, even old used ones, just the logos won't be as nice.
Also, if you just blacken the logo using AC then strip the blade, any light sanding will pretty much remove the logo so I would go kinda deep then AC etch or at least deep enough to where you can sand the surface metal after the stripping and not disturb the blackened part.
And I have found that there is no real need to wash off the residue, just dab with a paper towel or clean q-tip and apply more solution to keep etching.
And another way I have made etching tools is to wrap a piece of cloth folded over a couple times or even a cotton ball to the end of a metal rod or maybe even a wood rod would work. Then wrap something like copper wire around the cloth or cotton to attach to the electric current, and as long as the solution is soaked into the cotton and touching the metal or copper wire, it will work great. It's sometimes easier to use a larger pad than just a q-tip I find.
