Etching

[William Schrade]

I've noticed some makers marks are deep clean etchings. What's the trick? Is it done pre or post HT. I have an Etch-o-matic knifemakers kit.
I clean stencil after every mark. Some come out nice others not so nice. Thanks.

 

[Matt Markell]

I do mine post HT when I'm hand sanding at about 220 grit. Use the DC setting and go 10 seconds on 10 off for 2 mins or so of ON time. I haven't had much luck with the AC setting on my Atlas mini etcher but I prefer a plain DC etch anways. You'll need to experiment some to get the etch you like.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I use about 60-90 second around 20VDC ( number 4-5) and then switch to 10-15 seconds of AC. All post HT and at 400 grit or finer.

The only tip I can offer is: Clean it, then clean it again....then clean it one more time.

 

[Hilton Mendes]

William,
I also have the Etch-o-Matic kit but I replaced the power supply to a new one I have built.

The new power unit hase 2 options of voltage (12 and 24 Volts) and AC / DC switch.


As you may know the DC (Direct Corrent) is better for deeping the mark and the AC (Alternating Current) is to black the mark.

The mark is my last step...

 

[Atlas Knife Company]

Here's a video we made at a hammer in. A problem I had with etching was that I was taking too long. I found that the deeper you go the less sharp it becomes. The final etch in the video was around 5 seconds and was very sharp.
[youtube]A3Gu_Xdcn_Q[/youtube]