That is awsome! Looks great! :thumbup:
I would really love to know more about how you did the etching on the blade. I have always wanted to be able to do that on some of my knives but never knew of a cheap way to accomplish it!
Thanks! For the etching techniques I'm grateful to Mike Forti over at:
http://m4040.com/Knifemaking/M40Bowkri.htm
He broke it down real simple on his site and corresponded re: details.
I'll break it down here so as to include some details he shared with me and some obesrvations I've made.
Basic Materials
1) Get yourself some ferric chloride AKA 'etchant'. I bought mine at Radio Shack. May have to drive to a few stores before you find some.
2) a glass vessel for the etching process.
3) something for the 'resist', which is a substance that covers the area you dont want etched. I've used spray paint and nail polish. Both worked well and were equally a pain to get off.
4) Something to create the design. You can get fancy with sticker backing, vinyl prints, etc., but I didnt find a handy way in that direction. One pro I emailed said he uses a special printer and software to design vinyl etch stencils. I got my designs on paper (a celtic "U" in my case), cut out the design and used that. If youre good at free-hand drawing you can create the design right in the resist.
Procedure
1) Get design on the blade. I took my paper cut-out "U", licked the back, and stuck it on the blade.
2) Apply resist. I spray-painted the axe head. it dries fast so do 3-5 quick coats. Multiple coats is critical. Once all dry I removed the paper U and this resulted in the axe head being all paint except for the U. Give it a day or more to dry hard. Etch time.
2a) Now if your good at free hand drawing, you can skip the stencil/design and begin by spray painting multiple coats or applying nail polish, then once dry, draw in your design. The Etchant WILL show very fine lines,.
3) I heated Etchant in oven to maybe 100f because I read somewhere about activity being greater that way. Submerge place to be etched in the etchant using the glass vessel. Etched area should be facing down in etchant because you want the waste product to fall away from the etch rather than build up as a coat. To help this along, gently agitate the axe head every 5 minute or so. How long to etch? YMMV. I went a couple of hours on my norse hawk. When time is up, rinse the piece. Pour etchant back in bottle, can re-use.
4) Remove paint or nail polish. I had to resort to a hardcore skin burning paint stripper in both cases, and lots of elbow grease. I thought that was odd.
5) If you want your etch to be deeper, you can repeat the process. Look at my norse hawk blade and you can see fine lines along the axe head and a scroll design back by the haft. Thats the result of a single etch. I did two etchings on the U on the norse hawk and you can see the results were far better. I'd have done three but I was ready for this to be done. For second etch, it is easier to carefully paint around initial etch with nail polish. I used the nail polish brush for broad strokes but then a small hobby brush. Once dry I did about an hour long etch. if your design is too complex or you for some other reason want a different strategy, I might go thru steps 3, but dont remove the resist. Instead, wash the piece, inspect the resist to be sure its intact, and re-do the etching. I've read that fully clearing the etch between etch sessions can help remove the particles that build up in etching, allowing for a fresh start and cleaner etch.
Lessons learned and points to ponder:
1: Spend a LOT of time on the etch design. The etchant will show very fine detail, meaning, all goof-ups you make, like misc scratches outside the intended lines, etc. On the other hand, you can draw an insanely detailed etch. Mike F showed me a knife blade etched with a jungle scene that had veins on leaves, etc. Crazy!
2: Think carefully about what, if any, patina you'll be doing. You can see in the two hawk picture I have a very faint etch on the trailhawk, faint in part due to the browning I did. The norse came out better for numerous reasons but a stronger patina may have obscured the etch. After I etched the norse, I patina'ed with a simple cider vinegar soak of a few hours. This dulled the steel nicely but it also super-cleaned the etch inside so the etch didnt stand out as well. Prior to patina the inside of the etch had gained a dark cast, was cool.
3: Next time I do this I will aim for multiple hour-long etches.
4: I'm wondering how to gain and maintain a darker patina within the etch itself, to make it stand out more. My first thoughts are that if you get the etch deep enough, you can then do a brown or blue patina, for example, and then buff off the patina on the upraised portions of the etch.
5: Head over to
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=1&f=794 and search for etching and learn about easy electro-etch (done in MINUTES!) among other things.
:thumbup:
