Ferric etching 15N20??

J

JosephSchultz511

Joined
Jun 22, 2022
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I have some ferric chloride mixed 4:1 with water, and I etched a Damascus blade in it for an hour and it etched the 15N20 as well. It etched the 1080 deeper than the 15N20, but I still had to do a lot of sanding to get the 15N20 back to shiny. Did I leave it in too long? Is my ferric too strong? How long should I etch for a deep etch?
 
One hour is too long.

Try ten minutes at a time until you get the look you want.

I go in with a 800 grit finish and after cleaning, I go over the blade with 1200 grit. It takes 2-3 times to get a good look.

Bath temperature, quality of heat treat, amount of nickel in the 15n20, strength of etchant, degree of finish going in etc… will affect the etch.

Hoss
 
15N20 still etches, but slower than carbon steel. Multiple short soaks are better than 1 long soak so you can re polish the 15N20 more often so it doesn't etch as dark/deep each time, while darkening/deepening the carbon etching.
 
It works best for me to sneak up on it and not get too greedy on any one cycle. If I have it between 800 and 1500 grit, I'll do as many as 6 cycles, going a little longer each time. I like to polish between cycles with 3M pink polishing sheets (4000 grit).
 
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