Interesting effect

SteelSlaver

SteelSlaver

Joined
Feb 17, 2007
Messages
3,375
I am new here but, have been making knives for about 3 years now and some are getting pretty nice. I made an interesting discovery awhile back and want to share it with everyone as I have learned a ton from you guys and appreciate the sharing.

I used to make my own printed circuit boards and when I went to etching damascus I ran out of "new" ferric cloride and used some that was laying around from making cicuit boards. I mixed it about 1/3 vinigar, 1/3 distilled water and 1/3 ferric cloride as I had learned. When I soaked a blade of 1095 and 15n20 and pulled it out it was coated with a copper residue, It washed right off except for on the 15n20. The copper seamed to want to bond to the nickel alloy. I have been playing with this effect and if I do the etch in stages and scrub it lightly between them I can get a pretty good copper color on the nickel and it looks great with the darker 1095. I can buff it some without removing the copper and it looks pretty nice especially on damascus that has a lot of layers. I have hooked a multimeter up on the blade and a plate while the etch is in procress and can measure over .5 volts while etching. So some type of electro plating is occuring. I am thinking of trying it with a small amount of dc current to see if I can increase and control the effect better. I made a drop point skinner this way with copper guard and a copper spacer between a horn and warthog ivory handle and it came out very nice.
 
Yup! That's what happens if you etch with "contaminated" FeCl. It's the reason I never use copper wire to suspend pieces in my etchant.

-d
 
use a host like photbucket, imagevenue, imageshack, etc., and then link them to us. The only other way is to buy a membership to have the attachments enabled for your account.
 
I would be interested in viewing one of them. You can upload to a server out there and create a link and pasted it in here to illustrate your work. Or you can upgrade to a membership in here and upload the photo in here. But that's all up to you. Have a great day and may your day be a blessed on.
 
This is similar to one of the very ancient methods of plating. Of course one of the best-known methods was to use mercury amalgam (gold, silver, etc suspended in mercury). They'd apply it to a surface and fire it. The mercury would vaporize and the other metal would adhere. Another less known method was to dissolve the desired metal into an acid (sometimes fruit-based concoctions from what I've read), and plate a steel part pretty much as described above with the FeCL. No external power source. I've heard this effect called 'Flash' or 'Flashing'. Today, it's usually considered the undesired effect from a contaminated solution.
I suspect the selective plating of the 15N20 has to do with the dilute nature of the solution and/or the tendency of FeCL to produce that black finish on steel (which might interfere with the plating) while leaving the 15N20 bright and more susceptible to the plating.

.... sorry, I'm just rambling now.:o
Interesting topic.
 
My suspision is the same as yours and I believe it shows in the bit a voltage the process creates. Much like a battery and the copper is adhered in the flow. I have also tried it with 1095 and opure nickle and you get about the same result. I like it and will probly play with it a while. Don't worry I ramble too
 
I get copper plating on my leatherman pliers when I dip them into the copper cleaner solution with no power used at all. Galvanic action I suppose between the copper, copper contaminated solution and the stainless of the pliers.

Etching solution is swimming pool shocking solution to control algae.
 
Nice Knife Scott. I like the effect and plan on doing it every now and again. The voltage I mentioned is a product of the process, I bet if you put a multi meter lead on your leatherman and the other lead is placed in the etching solution you get a low voltage reading too. I was wondering if I added some more voltage if I would increase the effect.
 
Yes, you're right ib2v4u. Your knives are looking pretty good :thumbup: , real good in fact ;) . I believe deker nailed it with the contaminated etchant. Contaminate conjures up the thought of failure though, its not "contaminated" if you did it on purpose :) Nice work ib2
 
ib2v4u said:
Nice Knife Scott. I like the effect and plan on doing it every now and again. The voltage I mentioned is a product of the process, I bet if you put a multi meter lead on your leatherman and the other lead is placed in the etching solution you get a low voltage reading too. I was wondering if I added some more voltage if I would increase the effect.
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thanks ib2. I appreciate the compliment.
 
David Wesner said:
Yes, you're right ib2v4u. Your knives are looking pretty good :thumbup: , real good in fact ;) . I believe deker nailed it with the contaminated etchant. Contaminate conjures up the thought of failure though, its not "contaminated" if you did it on purpose :) Nice work ib2
Click to expand...

Thanks for the complement. Steel has payed most of my way thru life, in one form or the other. As I am getting older I want to refine my work to smaller pieces and I have found that I really love making knives and appling my metal skills and tools to them, plus the study of blades and having a forge has opened up an whole new area of learning. I have made about 30 knives now and momma thinks it is time to sell a few. here is my latest and a favorite. 1095 and nickle damascus by Chad Nichols and with amber and warthog handle. I collored the blade after ht and finishing with heating the back while the edge was setting in wet kao wool . the blade is gold near the edge although I got a small spot near the hilt a little blue.

http://s178.photobucket.com/albums/w257/imviall/?action=view&current=Picture063.jpg
 
Here's one I made for my son in the US Coast Guard. I added a piece of copper to the etchant to get the effect.
fd589126.jpg
 
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