How to preserve touchmark through deep damascus etch?

L

Leon Husock

Joined
Jul 17, 2019
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320
I use an electro-etching machine to make my mark, set to the "etch" setting so it leaves a frosty mark in relief below the level of the steel. However, if I do this on damascus before I etch the blade, the mark gets a bit lost in the pattern of the etch. BUT, if I do it *after* I etch the blade (specifically for a deep etch with lots of topography) I don't get solid contact between the electrode and the surface and the mark is muddy. The best idea I've come up with is making the mark and then filling it in with nail polish, but it's pretty hard to remove the nail polish from the surface of the blade and just leave it in the lines of the mark.

Should I just give up and let my mark be hard to see?
 
hi, what etching machine are you using? etching solution? sounds like it is not going deep enough.
 
john april said:
hi, what etching machine are you using? etching solution? sounds like it is not going deep enough.
Click to expand...

I'm using an Electrochem Personalizer Plus machine with SC-E1 electrolyte etching solution (and etching the blades in ferric chloride of course). It's not that the FeCl is getting rid of the mark, the problem is just that when the mark is the same pattern as the rest of the steel it's hard to see it, but once the steel is textured I can't get solid contact to make the mark. I'd like the mark to be silver and the rest of the blade to be patterned.
 
Before the etch, make a little circle or football or square or whatever shape you like, with cheap fingernail polish.

That'll leave you with a clear spot, with your etched mark easily visible. Clean it up with acetone and a toothbrush.
 
A.McPherson said:
Before the etch, make a little circle or football or square or whatever shape you like, with cheap fingernail polish.

That'll leave you with a clear spot, with your etched mark easily visible. Clean it up with acetone and a toothbrush.
Click to expand...

The problem with that is I'll have an un-etched area around the mark, where ideally I'd like the mark to be clean but the etch to go right up to it (basically a silver mark on an etched background). But I'll try marking a square with tape so the etches are really crisp and see how that looks.
 
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