Found an easy Ferric Chloride resist

T

TimWieneke

Joined
Oct 26, 2003
Messages
176
I'm sure someone's found this already, but I thought I'd pass it along. After messing with waxes, magic markers and everything else, I happened upon the best and easiest ferric chloride resist I've ever found - duct tape. Give it a try next time, you will get a perfectly clean line where the tape ends - no "creeping" like can happen under wax. I tested it against a mirror polished area - part covered w/ duct tape and part left exposed. I then set it in pure ferric chloride for 9 hours. The covered part was untouched and still a mirror finish.

This could be pretty useful for guys who use Ferric Chloride to put their marks on their blades and are tryin to make clean lines.

Tim
 
Good tip, Tim. What brand of tape are you using? There are many different brands, with many different levels of quality.
 
I wouldnt risk that on an expensive knife until I had performed that experiment many many times.........Mr Murphy is sitting on your bench waiting to go into action.....I use fingernail polish, it works great.........make sure you wait for it to dry.
 
Jeff,
Can't remember at the moment - got it from Walmart, the one w/ the duck wearing the painter's hat. I didn't get the cheapest, but I didn't buy contractor level, uber-sticky stuff either. Just make sure it's real flat against the steel, no ridges, the chloride will creep into there. I also press the edge of it against he steel slowly with my fingers to let the heat increase the stickiness of the glue while making sure the edges are sealed.

Tim
 
That has to work and I should have thought of that myself bcause we used to use tape to mask printed circuit boards that we etched with undiluted ferric chloride. Too long and the etch would go under the tape but we were etching copper, not steel.

Heads up thinking on your part.

In fact you might check with your local Radio Shack for that tape. It comes in different widths and has nice clean lines.

RL
 
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