Mustard For Etching?

VorpelSword

Gold Member
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Dec 27, 2007
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OK, I am seeing videos on YouTube that show folks taking a finished knife and daubing the blade with yellow mustard. This leaves a pattern of different color on the blade.

I thought "whiskey-Tango . . ." till one of the videos talked about vinegar in the mustard.

If it is the vinegar (ascetic acid) that does the etching, why not just use vinegar?

Further thinking, another cup of coffee brought up another thought. If vinegar will do the trick, why do serious knife makers use other, more sophisticated or noxious stuff?
 
OK, I am seeing videos on YouTube that show folks taking a finished knife and daubing the blade with yellow mustard. This leaves a pattern of different color on the blade.

I thought "whiskey-Tango . . ." till one of the videos talked about vinegar in the mustard.

If it is the vinegar (ascetic acid) that does the etching, why not just use vinegar?

Further thinking, another cup of coffee brought up another thought. If vinegar will do the trick, why do serious knife makers use other, more sophisticated or noxious stuff?
I use mustard often. Am I not considered a "serious" knifemaker?............bummer. 😕

It's all about your end goal and what finish/look you're trying to achieve.

Mustard is more controllable than straight vinegar.
 
^^^+++ Got it. . . .and its in the fridge.

No shade intended.

But, why then do I see knife makers do full immersion etching of Damascus in ferric chloride or some other harsh chemical instead of whitw vinegar?
 
^^^+++ Got it. . . .and its in the fridge.

No shade intended.

But, why then do I see knife makers do full immersion etching of Damascus in ferric chloride or some other harsh chemical instead of whitw vinegar?
It's for a completely different purpose and a completely different look.
 
I tried vinegar for a patina once. It stunk up the house. I have heard mustard is faster and you can smudge it to customize the pattern a little more. It also smells delicious 😋
 
^^^+++ Got it. . . .and its in the fridge.

No shade intended.

But, why then do I see knife makers do full immersion etching of Damascus in ferric chloride or some other harsh chemical instead of whitw vinegar?
I'm a bit of a newb but I've been looking into this too. I may be wrong but as I understand it, the blade material is key. High carbon steel requires less aggressive solutions where as some other materials will require a more aggressive solution such as ferric chloride. I will look into this a bit before just trying this on a prized item.
 
I etched Carbon Steel Damascus using white vinegar all of the time. I didn’t want Ferric Chloride in my shop! I had a fellow maker leave the top off of his FC dunk tank while gone for a month during a hot summer & it ruined a bunch of knife steels & put corrosion on some machines, tools etc. it can take a day or so with white vinegar, depending on the temperature But it with etch carbon steel & when it’s dirty, just dump it down a drain… I will save mustard for hot dogs & Pastrami sandwiches…
 
Yeah the aggressive chemical etchants are used by someone who's really familiar with how the material in question reacts.

Going trial and error with your own nice knife is going to be more errors that I'd want to go through.
 
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