is eating food cut with a blade etched with ferric chloride dangerous?

[stevep]

is this etching material on a blade dangerous to humans. i have a blade treated with it and the blade still leaves a black residue on the rag i rub the blade with after numerous scrubbings. thanks

 

[Sosa]

You could test it with litmus paper.

 

[Don Hanson III]

No, but ya might want to rub more of the black off the blade, as it'll taste funny. After some use it'll wear in just fine.

 

[stevep]

thanks for the help.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

I scrub the blade down with baking soda to remove the excess black oxides. If that makes the blade too light color, I rinse well and give a very short dip in the FC again. Then I can finish as normal after washing the blade well.

As said, the black is not harmful. Remember to neutralize and rinse the blade well after etching or you may get unwanted rust spots later on. Use Windex or TSP to clean the blade well, scrub with baking soda, or boil for 10-15 minutes in water with a teaspoon of baking soda added. The boiling also seems to make the black stay better.

 

[Jonathans]

Just make sure you have no metal in your mouth

 

[ChrisKuhn]

Just make sure you have no metal in your mouth

Got some gold in there that I prefer a polished finish on