Etchant question

[AddictChris]

i see a lot of opinions about how much to dilute ferric chloride.

The thing is, every different brand I look at starts out at a different % solution in the bottle. I have one that’s 46%, I’ve seen 26% and 30-something.

Do you guys buy straight up stuff that’s not already diluted? If so, where?

Does the fact that it comes in various strengths cause the different notions people have over how much to dilute it?

It’s a bit corn-fusing

The stuff I have is 43% solution. How much should I cut that solution with distilled water to arrive at a decent strength?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

The "stock" solution is 42°Baume. That is around 43%.
You dilute it three parts water to one part stock solution. For more gentle etching, use five parts water to one part stock. Some very slow etching is done at 15:1.

After using the diluted solution for a while, pour off the FC from the tank and discard the red/orange sludge in the bottom. After rinsing out the tank, put the old FC back and add about 10% stock solution to bring it back to strength. You can just make a close guess as to how much is in the tank. About 12 pounces per gallon of old solution is good enough.

 

[AddictChris]

The "stock" solution is 42°Baume. That is around 43%.
You dilute it three parts water to one part stock solution. For more gentle etching, use five parts water to one part stock. Some very slow etching is done at 15:1.

After using the diluted solution for a while, pour off the FC from the tank and discard the red/orange sludge in the bottom. After rinsing out the tank, put the old FC back and add about 10% stock solution to bring it back to strength. You can just make a close guess as to how much is in the tank. About 12 pounces per gallon of old solution is good enough.

Thank you! Exactly what I needed to know!