Black etch in makers mark rubbing off!

[Outdoor Gear Dad]

I have a personalizes plus and have swim etchant that was recommended by several other knife makers.....I do a deep etch the. Mark it with the black / marks setting....but when I pull the stencil off and clean it up with some steel wool the black just rubs right off and I am left with just a deep etch. Am I missing something?

 

[Jesse Latham]

Don't use steel wool. Spray with windex and rub with your finger. If there is a halo around it rub with a dry piece of stiff cardboard in the direction of the finish.

 

[Kevin Kf knives]

I use the same grit paper I finished sanding the blade with, with some windex, and do a couple of light pulls

 

[john april]

the deeper the etch, the more of it stays on. how many times, and for how many seconds each, are you holding the etching pad to the blade? and where is your voltage knob set? i do both hot stamps and etching, the black background from a hot stamp is hard to beat, its actually scale and will not buff or come off.

 

[DustinY]

Don’t use steel wool, I struggled with the black/mark coming off too. If you’re using carbon steel you can use brass black to darken it, if it ever happens.

Here is what you need to do, etch deeper, mark longer, and don’t use steel wool.

always use a high grit sand paper to finish over, and you’ll get a beautiful mark every time.

 

[SBuzek]

I spray with Windex then let air dry for about 30 minutes before cleaning to allow the dark to set up.

 

[Ken H>]

I spray with Windex then let air dry for about 30 minutes before cleaning to allow the dark to set up.

That's the trick - allow etch to "set" for a while before any cleaning other than spray with Windex and finger rub to neutralize acid from etch. Then do a light sand with 800 to 1,000 grit and USE A BACKING for paper so fingers don't press into etch.

 

[Outdoor Gear Dad]

Thanks for all the info!

 

[P.Brewster]

If you do some searching you'll encounter the concept of using heat to "set" the dark mark.