How Can I Blacken A Stainless Steel Knife With Ferric Chloride

I

Ian Spiro

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Oct 9, 2018
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i'm about to get a 440C stainless steel balisong and i wanna make it matte black. I heard I can etch it in ferric chloride until black but I need more information on the timing and step by step process. pls help meeeeeeeeeee
 
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Ian Spiro said:
i'm about to get a stainless steel balisong and i wanna make it matte black. I heard I can etch it in ferric chloride until black but I need more information on the timing and step by step process. pls help meeeeeeeeeee
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Just get a black one.
It’s not as simple as you might think to blacken stainless. Honestly you best bet would be to send it out and have it PVD coated. Getting acid involved can work but I depends on the steel used and the acid. It also will eat away the surface of the steel and destroy tolerances. So yeah just buy a black one.
 
Acid etched can change the specs which can make it sloppy
 
Blackening it is easy. Masking the pivot hole and areas around where it needs tight tolerances is the tough part. That’s what the other guys are telling you. If you don’t mask it properly you could completely ruin the knife/void the warranty.

That being said, I’ve used ferric chloride on fixed blade aeb-l and it looked and performed great. I use 3 parts water to 1 part ferric. Clean and degrease the part very very well. Dip knife in ferric, check that it’s etching evenly, take knife out and clean oxides with steel wool, clean knife, dip again until you get results you want.

Have some water and baking soda in a Tupperware container to neutralize or spray it down with windex.

I don’t know what you could use around the pivot to mask it. I’ve heard of nail polish failing as well as magic marker so I’d test it out before using it on your knife.

Good luck.
 
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i have darkened SS cusing my makers mark tool. kind of works but taks time. i just put it on the mark setting and "paint the blade" some only have etch and not mark not sure if AC or DC setting
 
AC is the mark setting
 
Josh Rider said:
Blackening it is easy. Masking the pivot hole and areas around where it needs tight tolerances is the tough part. That’s what the other guys are telling you. If you don’t mask it properly you could completely ruin the knife/void the warranty.

That being said, I’ve used ferric chloride on fixed blade aeb-l and it looked and performed great. I use 3 parts water to 1 part ferric. Clean and degrease the part very very well. Dip knife in ferric, check that it’s etching evenly, take knife out and clean oxides with steel wool, clean knife, dip again until you get results you want.

Have some water and baking soda in a Tupperware container to neutralize or spray it down with windex.

I don’t know what you could use around the pivot to mask it. I’ve heard of nail polish failing as well as magic marker so I’d test it out before using it on your knife.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
 
Josh Rider said:
Blackening it is easy. Masking the pivot hole and areas around where it needs tight tolerances is the tough part. That’s what the other guys are telling you. If you don’t mask it properly you could completely ruin the knife/void the warranty.

That being said, I’ve used ferric chloride on fixed blade aeb-l and it looked and performed great. I use 3 parts water to 1 part ferric. Clean and degrease the part very very well. Dip knife in ferric, check that it’s etching evenly, take knife out and clean oxides with steel wool, clean knife, dip again until you get results you want.

Have some water and baking soda in a Tupperware container to neutralize or spray it down with windex.

I don’t know what you could use around the pivot to mask it. I’ve heard of nail polish failing as well as magic marker so I’d test it out before using it on your knife.

Good luck.
Click to expand...
How dark were you able to get the aebl with that process?
 
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