Is there a etching tutorial on the net?

R

rlinger

Joined
Mar 29, 2002
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I can make my own etching devise. The electronics is no problem. I have a basic understanding of electrolysis but not enough to understand how the blade is placed in solution. For example, I don't know such things as whether the enire blade is submerged, where the electrodes are attached, how stencils are attached, what chemicals to use, etc., etc.. It's the stuff outside the box that I need to learn about. With that I can build my own and would be very happy to share the design.

Another question: Once again I forgot to stamp the ricasso before heat treating! :eek: Can I etch a finished knive without damaging the handle material?

I need these ignorant questions answered. Thanks;

Roger
 
Etching your logo on does not require you to submerge your blade. It is usually done on a 95% finished knife, blade hardness makes no difference.
The stencil is placed on the blade, the handpads felt pad is wetted with the solution, it is not a caustic solution BTW. You press the handpiece to a paper towel till the pad barely leaves a wet mark, then you place the ground strap on your blade, turn the machine on, and gently press on the stencil, with the handpad, for about 3 seconds, lift the handpiece for 2 seconds, and repeat about 12-18 times, depending on the etcher. If you have adjustable power, turn the etcher down to the halfway mark, you will usually get better results that way. When you are finished the first etch, turn the machine to AC normal etch, from DC deep etch, that will redeposit black oxide into the logo. Repeat the etching process at AC normal etch aprox.,7-12 times. Take off the stencil, put cleaning solution on the blade and rub with a cloth, rinse with water, clean your stencil, and done. You might have some slight haze to either polish off, or if handrubbed, a few strokes to make it just right.:D
Ron Claiborne, a friend of mine, makes an excellent etcher . Let me know if you need contact info.
 
I have one of Ron Claibourne's etchers and it is simple to use,there are plans on the net for a couple if one just has to build their own.

The way this one works, is there is a positive and negative lead...one is clamped to the blade and the other holds the cotton batting that is wetted and then touched to the stencil that has been taped in place to the blade so that it lays flat....being careful not to cover the part that actually allows you to mark the blade.

And yes you can mark the blades after completion of the knife.

Hope this helps some.
Mike K
 
Thanks a bunch. Those two posts paint a clearer picture for me.

Now, two more simple questions - please. What chemicals do I need for etching and what foam pad material should I use? I understand that the pad, which is used to cover the art of the stencil, should not be greater in size than the stencile so as not to etch blade steel outside the stencile area(?).

Thanks again;

Roger
 
You will need etching solution, for the type of steel, 2-3 types cover most, a bottle of stencil cleaning solution, whatever size handpads you figure you will need, get the deep etch type, and the felt pads that go on the handpads. I would recommend calling lectroetch, and talking to someone there about your needs, get a catalog, etc. They started the whole metal etching process, and are great to deal with.
http://www.lectroetch.com/

All the items needed to etch, take up little space. I have mine in a desk, out in the shop, one drawer. The process is not at all as time consuming, as I have probably made it seem. Good luck.
 
I think that sums it all up for me. Thanks again. I've got enough info now to proceed as soon as I recover from Christmas expenditures.

Roger
 
rlinger,

Once again we are working on the same thing at the same time.

I've just built my etcher box and now I need to order the stencils and solution.

I built the box kinda from plans I found on the web. But easier - for me.

Most of the commercial boxes I found are about 12volts AC and DC. Gee guess what, so are computer power supplies! They come in a box, with a swell fan, and rated for 6 amps.

I got a trashed pc at work and took the power supply out. It has leads for 12VDC and 5VDC. Then I taped into the transformer where it turns 120VAC to 12VAC. That gave me the other set of leads.

All that to say, if you can find an old PC power supply, you might not need a trip to Radio Shack.

Steve

PS - the new ATX power supplies have power sensors and won't turn on without a mother board. Might require removing and re-using some of the key parts.
 
itrade: can you be a little more specific on how you make the old PC power supply into the etcher. im great at building things, but i have to admit ive always been a little slower with electronics :)

thanks
 
Well guess what, you are correct. They can also be operated at 240 source volts for our friends over seas (a switch on the back of supply). I, though, have been seeing etchers advertized at 24 volts at a couple amps. The 24 volt is what I thought I should build. What do I know about etchers.

I build, upgrade, etc., computers for a living. Any small computer outfit may have some old AT style power supplies on hand. It would pay you to get a backup supply in case the one you have now goes down. The longer you wait the more scarce those obsolete supplies will become. They are scarce now by comparison. If you pay more than 10 bucks you're getting ripped.

Good luck with your design. I am sure it work okay if 12 volts is sufficient.

Roger
 
For what its worth, i read this over at www.ckdforums.com

"The best way to get a deep etch is to have a 12.5volts at 3amps ==it clean and will etch deep and crisp the reason that you have fuzzy etches is the 25volts is to hot and its evaporating the etchent before it has a chance to work on the steel they should work together , and when they do you will get a better etch and deeper at a faster rate "

dunno though, never used one.

hopefully will soon though :)
 
SkaerE,

I'll try and explain better, but remember I haven't tried this thing out yet, except with salt water. It etches! I can tell you that much.

FYI: Here's one from Bob Warner that gave me the idea: http://www.warnerknives.com/electro.htm

rlinger mentioned 24 volts. The Lectro-chem and other machines are 12 volts 3 amps. So, I think we're ok with that. Variable DC would be nice too, but right off the power supply we get 5 volts too.

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OK Here's what I know:

What you're after is 12vdc and 12vac. The PC power supply has a whole bunch of wires spuing out with connectors for hard drives and such. Those are your DC power leads. (The connectors with more wires are for the motherboard, you don't need those.) You'll want a black wire for negative and the yellow (double check with a volt meter) for 12 positive. Then a red wire is probably going to be your 5 volt positive. Cut all the rest of the wires off. So, the only things coming out of the case are 3 wires: black, red, and yellow.

If you plug in the power supply and flip the switch on it, you can prove that out. As long as you don't open the case you're pretty safe. Nothing worse than a car battery.

The next part has some risk and requires an AC volt meter. Proceed at your own risk!

Unplug and remove to the cover on the supply and unbolt the circuit board. Look it over. There'll be a big transformer on it. There are wires going into it on both sides. Turn the circuit board over and find the leads going in and out of the transformer.

Here comes some more risk, no big deal if you've played with this stuff before.

Make sure the upside down circuit board isn't resting on any metal to short out and plug the thing in. Turn it on. Lights still on in the house? Good.

With a volt meter set to AC, test 2 leads on one side of the transformer. You should see either 120VAC or 12ish. Once you find the 2 leads with 12 volts you're home free.

Unplug it.

Now solder a wire on each lead and you have your 12VAC! Stick the wires back thru the case and put it back together.

Which wire is which doesn't matter on AC.

I'll probably buy some switches like Bob has and mount them in the case.
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I don't know how well this works and if the DC current is clean enough for a good etch. But heck the parts are free and worth a try.

I hope that helps.

Steve
 
I'd sure like to hear more about that from the guys on this forum that etch their blades. If so, why do I want to build a 24 volt system. I'll go the 12 volt route. I am not sure about the current handling capabilities of the 12 volt source on these supplies. I'll have to check that and I'm not sure if I have an AT supply here right now. That voltage is used primarily to service drive motors and stepping motors in the drives. It is also used by some electronics within the system.

Roger
 
I should be able to provide the plug color coding on these supplies. As I recall there is -5, +5, +12 and I bekieve a -12. The black wires a common ground. Let me know if you need them. I'll go now to see if I have one an AT supply laying around. I,m still not convinced there is enough 12 volt current. I'll look.

Roger

Okay, I just happen to have one here. This one is rated a 200 watts. That's about right for these supplies and you will see some rated at 250 watts or a little better. Amazingly the +12 supply is rated at 7.5 amps. I feel a bit embarrased at this since I have been working on computers since long before personal computers were manufactured. At any rate: these supplies provide 4 different output voltage sources (as stated above). The only output you are interested in is the +12. The -12 output is used by electronics only and will be of no use because it provides very little current output. Measuring across the +12 and -12 outputs will yield 24 volts however, using these two leads as a 24 volt source should not work for the purpose of etching as there will not be enough current available because of the -12 volt current limitation.

EDIT: I mention that the +12 is all you need of this supply. I see that Itrade in a post above advises keeping the +5 volt also. I have to retract my statement concerning this because I, as I stated at the beginning of the thread, do not know about etching. I can only say that I have seen advertized systems that range from 12 to 24 volts and yes those that provide variability in voltage.

Roger
 
dc is ok to etch but your going to need AC to lay the oxide back down
on the blade for the black ..I belive...:(
 
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