Can I save this etch?

M

MSCantrell

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 12, 2005
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Christmas2011knifeetch.jpg

Christmas2011knifeetch1.jpg


I etched my logo, and when I cleaned it up, the middle isn't deep enough. It's there, it's legible, but it's NOT consisent from end to end.

Is it worth risking a "double-tap" to try lining up the stencil just right and hitting it again?
Is there some genius trick to solve this that I just haven't about?

Thank!
Mike
 
take some gun blue and wipe over the surface, then take a sanding block with say 220 or whatever your finish desires and hit it with that until the surrounding area bluing is gone, leaving your stencil darker..

not sure if it will work but its the only thing I can think of, I would not try to stencil again..
 
I tried to re-etch a blade once and it didn't work out too well. I ended up having to sand it all flush again, I would just try the gun bluing first if I had to do it again, or just go straight to sanding it off and re-etching.

I do wonder what happened to make it etch deeper on the ends than in the middle, do you have any idea what caused it?
 
Try the same deal with a sharpie. Surprising how well that'll works. I've gone to just taping one side of the stencil and when I think I have it peel the loose side back to see. If not then the stencil will go right back in the same spot and I can hit er again. Got to doing that cause of this problem.
 
Can't be 100% sure but... I tend to get the same kind of thing if I don't have enough electrolyte. What etcher are you using?
 
IF your stencil is from IMG, they are pretty easy to re-align, as they are fairly translucent. Just wet the back and watch carefully for the edges as you align it over the original etch.

If you are using another brand of stencil, it may not work so well.

Robert
 
Maybe try some model car paint? Get a super fine brush, paint it "in" the etch as much as possible and then sand back to the original finish...?
 
I don't think I'd try re-etching with one of Ernie's stencils, they're pretty dark/opaque and would be hard to line up. I don't know what you're using.

You might as well try to re-etch, though- maybe with some strong light aimed right you could line it up right.

You could try this- take a piece of paper, lay it on the blade, trace the outline of the blade and the mark from the top by rubbing a pencil over them. Basically, a rubbing of the blade and etched mark. Trim the paper off flush with the right side of the mark. You could even trim the paper to the blade outline, then flush with the right side of the mark.

Tape the paper to a window with strong light behind it, then bring your stencil up slowly to the paper and when you can see it's aligned, tape the stencil to the paper along the left side of the mark.

Take the paper and stencil down, lay the paper on the blade so the outlines match, then tape the right side of the stencil to the blade. This will be possible if you have trimmed your paper rubbing of the blade to the right side of the mark.

With the stencil taped to the blade on the right hand side, un-tape the stencil from the paper on the left side, and slide the paper out. Press the tape back down, onto the blade. Your stencils should be aligned with your mark.

Hopefully that made sense, or maybe you can invent some other way of doing it. The worst that can happen is you have to sand it off. You'd have had to anyway.
 
Thanks, everybody. I've using a homemade etcher and Ernie's stencils.
Salem, that's clever- index it against the blade outline. I'm going to give that a shot. Like you said, if I don't try it, then the answer is sand off and re-etch. If I try it and it doesn't work, then it's sand off and re-etch. So what's to lose?

Thanks, guys!
 
I have managed to re-align Ernie's stencils a few times with decent success. Using a brand new stencil and wetting it first makes it easier to see through. Lighting is important too, strong (natural if possible) backlight at a low angle helps a lot.
 
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