Have you ever etched stainless pre HT?

J

jawilder

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Jun 27, 2006
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I pretty much put the final finish/thickness on my stainless blades since they come out so clean and was wondering if it would be possible to etch my name in them pre HT then do some minor hand sanding afterwards. If I got the etch deep enough, would it darken during the HT process and stay dark afterwards?

The only reason I ask is because my name doesn't always come out good and black after an etch. It's getting better now that I let the mark dry before neutralizing it with windex, but still not 100%.

Is this a bad idea the might bring on stress risers, a general waste of time, or something that might work? What do you think?
 
I have not etched stainless prior to H T , but have had good results etching oil hardening carbon steels the way you describe .It seems the burnt oil clings to the rough texture of the etch and leaves it blacker .
 
Jason, what electrolyte are you using? Contrary to what the website says, 110a is not good for stainless. 94 works much better. In fact, of all the different electrolytes at IMG, 94 is the only one that I could get black on stainless. I've started including 94 with my etchers instead of 110a after learning this.
 
If the surface is taken to the final finish, and the etch is deep, then HT should not change it much. A light sanding with the same grit as the pre-HT finish should be all that is needed. The mark should also show up dark after HT. Give a few a try and see how it looks.
 
I've wondered about this myself. It's certainly much easier to get a deep crisp etch on annealed steel than it is on hardened steel.

I haven't tried it yet, but I don't see why it couldn't work. The color may be a little funky though, since air-hardened steels come back from HT a sort of rust/brown color from tempering oxides and I'm not sure how you would clean that out of the etch. Oil-quenched steels come back a nice blue/black color so that wouldn't be a problem.
 
i only use #94 for all of my steel carbon and SS and dont have any problems but i guess as long as you prep right before HT and have a proper foil pack it shoudl work (not sure if you will get a black in the letters tho witha good pouch you hardly get any discoloration)
 
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