FeCl + Stainless = ?

C

C.S. Graves

Joined
Jun 13, 2006
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Hey folks.

I was curious if anyone here has ever tried etching stainless steel with ferric chloride. I've got a big ol' chinese cleaver that I'd like to darken up, but I don't know if I can achieve the desired effect with the materials and don't want to try without picking folks brains first.
 
Hmm, I dont think so. Ferric Chloride only works on copper and Cu Alloys like brass and bronze.
Etching on stainless is hard. You need a solution of 2parts nitric acid to 1part sulphuric acid = Royal Water. As it is called
You also need to use a good resist to make sure it does not get on other parts of the knife.
Usually a permanent marker works for the FeCl, but the Royal Water needs like a poly-based hard coating like marine paint.
 
ferric chloride (circuit board etchant from radio shack) works quite well on iron and steel as well as brass/copper. haven't tried it on stainless, but it etches high carbon steel very rapidly and aggressively.
 
kronckew said:
ferric chloride (circuit board etchant from radio shack) works quite well on iron and steel as well as brass/copper. haven't tried it on stainless, but it etches high carbon steel very rapidly and aggressively.
Click to expand...


Yes, you are right. There have been some posts the Personalised Khukuri thread on the cantina.
I stand corrected. I had only ever used strong acid
 
Ferric Chloride is very caustic to stainless steel and often leaves pitting.
I would only experiment with it if i were going to be making designs lettering etc.
If you want to just get a dark patina I would suggest going the lemon juice or mustard treatment route first and experiment with that.

Ask someone who has search function to find the topics for you.
If i find them again i'll post them here.
 
Maybe I'll see if I can find a tray-dish deep enough to hold the blade in question and give it an immersion in vinegar for a long time... see if that does the trick first. Maybe heat the vinegar and blade beforehand to accelerate any etching.
 
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