Can superglue resist Muriatic Acid? (etching stainless damascus)

T

the possum

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I'm working on a small utility knife with a Damasteel blade. I already pinned and soldered the bolsters in place, and scratched up the tang a bit when shaping them. So I need to refinish the tang and do a final cleanup on the blade, and do one more light etching. I used Muriatic acid (Hydrochloric acid) to etch the blade in the first place, and it did a great job. But I'd tried using nail polish to mask off some areas that I didn't want etched, and the acid ate right through/under the nail polish like nothing. At that point it wasn't a big deal, but now that the bolsters are permanently attached, I don't want them getting eaten up. (the handle scales are not attached yet) What can I use to mask them off from this strong acid? If I paint them with superglue, will it hold good enough? Anything else I should try?
 
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I've never tried it. I would be surprised if it did work because super glue is is not water proof.

Hoss
 
Thanks for the heads-up, Devin. I'm googling now to see if there's something that would work better than super glue, then. Lots of sites mention varnish, but never go into specifics if they're talking about using it with muriatic acid. Do you have any suggestions? I have some scraps I could experiment on...
 
I use Nail polish on the few Damascus carbon steel blades I make every year and I use plain old white Apple vinegar to etch the Damascus. I leave it in sometimes over if I get a late start on it or if the temp is cool. The warmer it is the faster it etches, still not anywhere as fast as the acids but I can do it in the home and just dump the Vinegar down the sink when done. I don't like playing with Caustic stuff if I don't have too.
The etch comes out every bit as dramatic, just takes a little longer. I buy the gallon jugs and sometimes you can get the pints at the .99 cent stores. Great on salads too!:)
 
+1 on nailpolish. I've also found some paintmarkers work beautifully-test the one you intend to use on something that's not dear to you just in case. On pattern welded steel if you write runes with the paint marker the result looks like you've forge-welded high nickel steel runes into the blade.
 
DevinT said:
I've never tried it. I would be surprised if it did work because super glue is is not water proof.

Hoss
Click to expand...

This is accurate for many Super Glues for sure, but Locktite does make a water proof super glue and Maxicure from Bob Smith industries is water proof and I was told, when I called, it is used for gluing coral under water.

So it is important to know because as you said many are not water proof.
 
Interesting that this came up today, I was thinking about asking a similar question. Jerry Moen posted a Damasteel blade on Facebook yesterday and he mentioned a friend used a resist purchased from MSC. He didn't know what it was. He said it holds up to muriatic acid. I couldn't find it. I have a couple Damasteel folder blades that I'm about to etch and I'm trying to decide between muriatic or sulfuric acid for etching. From everything I've read, it sounds like using sulfuric is the better way to go although, it is a slower etch. It is my understanding that it will not dissolve the nail polish resist like muriatic will. There's a lot of info out there about etching carbon Damascus but very little about best practices with Damasteel and other stainless pattern welded steels.

Bob
 
Possum,
So sorry, I just realized you were talking about Damasteel, after I read RangrBobs post. It will just laugh at apple Vinegar. It was too hot here today! LOL.
 
Over the weekend I made up a test with a piece of scrap, and put a drop of glue, wax, and a different kind of nail polish on it. After 5 minutes in the acid, all three still looked good. I had done some more reading, and it sounds like some kinds of nail polish work better than others, and ya have to let it fully cure for a whole day or more. Since it was the easiest to work with, that's what I decided to use.

So I painted nail polish all over the bolsters, using tape to mask off a perfect line at the tang, and let it dry for a day. I put 'er in the acid for 5 minutes, and kept checking it, and the nail polish held. But I decided it needed a little more time in the etchant, and it seems the nail polish failed after just a couple more minutes. Acid seeped under the edges, and ate at the solder in the joint, so now I have a dark hairline between the bolsters and tang. Dang.
 
I forgot to mention-
I called up a company that specializes in printing supplies, for artists who still do copper plate engraving & printing. Their tech guy said their "hard ground" would resist muriatic acid. Theirs comes in a bigger container than I needed & had hazmat shipping, so I did not buy it. But I found a similar hard ground resist sold by Blick's art supplies, so next time I'm in Saint Louis I might go there & get a small bottle of it to try out.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/charbonnel-lamour-black-satin-hard-ground/
 
Thanks for that link. I have found that even with carbon damascus and ferris, you can still get a tiny bit of bleed at the edges with some nail polish.
 
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