Ferric, muratic, hydrochloric, vinegar,????

[John L]

What are the relative differences between the acids used to etch damascus or age high carbon? Which is the best for stainless? Are there any others out there worth trying? Thanks

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Ferric is by far the most popular and most available (Radio Shack).It will etch any normal blade steel.
Vinegar is good for a slow etch and antiquing on carbon steel.
Hydrochloric and muriatic ( the same thing,just an old name) are very aggressive and are diluted to make them more tame.Since the are much more dangerous,they are not too popular.

 

[Ropes4u]

I love the look vinegar leaves on 0-1 but YMMV

 

[JCaswell]

Hydrochloric and muriatic (the same thing, just an old name) ...

Huh, learn something new every day. (I took chemistry long before I had a good reason to remember the different acid names)

 

[Chris Meyer]

I found this link while looking up ferric chloride. It's for printers, but seems applicable to your question.

 

[airyq]

I have had difficulty finding ferric over here. Vinegar was a bit expensive. Having heard of the use of mustard, apples etc, out of desparation, tried Coca Cola. Works quite good, gives a dark gray patina on carbon steel. Give it a try, this is not a joke.

 

[David Wesner]

Interesting link Chris . Thanks

 

[mete]

Mustard - contains vinegar[acetic acid] , apples contain malic acid,Coca cola contains phosphoric acid. Stainless steel is much more resistant so something like hydrochloric or sulphuric acid ,and in high concentrations, is needed. www.damasteel.com recommends 37% solutions [be careful !]for these two acids for their stainless damascus. ...Type of acid , concentration, temperature and time are the variables .

 

[Greg Obach]

sulphuric will work too...
just dilute it and use it hot..

dilute nitric acid also works..... more subtle greyish ...

citric acid will work..

also......if you use vinnegar ( acetic acid ) to descale.... it gets real brown and scungy after awhile... and it works abit like ferric chloride...

you can also make ferric chloride with HCl acid..... there use to be a formula for it... how much iron to add?

Greg

 

[JTknives]

muriatic is easy to find, when i did concret we would use it for an aid wash after it was setup to get rid of the lime and calcium deosits on the surface then we would seal it. yo should beable to find it at any good construction store. now i dont know wow it woul treat a blade, but i just thought i would through out my 2 cents. also im building a vinager tank with a pump to inject micro bubbles into the vnger to help the etch process

 

[Steve Hayden]

muriatic is easy to find, when i did concret we would use it for an aid wash after it was setup to get rid of the lime and calcium deosits on the surface then we would seal it. yo should beable to find it at any good construction store. now i dont know wow it woul treat a blade, but i just thought i would through out my 2 cents. also im building a vinager tank that a pump to inject micro bubbles into the vnger to help the etch process

Muriatic, 0.375N Hydrochloric acid is about $3.00 a gallon at most any hardware store.

 

[T. Erdelyi]

I used catsup to bring out the lines on my Case Damascus after cleaning it and buffing it(that was stupid) and it worked really nice, a little slow but safe.

 

[Daniel Koster]

don't forget bleach...for that antiqued look.


And regular ole cold-bluing, of course.