Stainless Damascus etching?

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Dec 9, 2008
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I have myself a blade shaped out of stainless damascus, and I'm having a heck of a time getting a good etch on it. I'm using Ferric Chloride diluted with white vinegar, cleaning the blade with dish soap before etching, and rinsing in water with baking soda. The results have been spotty at best. Anyone have any good advice / experience acid etching stainless damascus? I would love some help with this.

-Dan
 
If it's Damasteel it is tough stuff to get a good etch . I have gone with the 100% muriatic. Frank
 
Don't have anything else to say except I'm surprised the FC isnt working. It's what I used on the 3 of the stainless damascus blades I've made.
 
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I watched my mate do some Devon Thomas stainless on the weekend. Try heating the FC up with a heat gun. That was the advice he had and it worked well.

Matt
 
I used undiluted muriatic acid and it worked like a charm. I'm still new at etching damascus, but I think it turned out well. I'll post some pictures once I get the handle on. I appreciate all the help!
 
A note about muriatic acid - It is powerful stuff, use carefully with all the right face and body protection. Use and store in a well ventilated place away from your expensive tools and steel. The vapors will rust everything near it.
 
are the fumes from Muriatic a big concern? I use it outside without a respirator, without any problems (that I know of)
 
Well, it is not too far in effect from WW1 mustard gas.

The fumes from muriatic are extremely bad on the lungs, eyes, and skin. It is hydrochloric acid. A respirator has to have a cartridge rated for "Acid Gas". A regular P100 won't save you.
 
I used a respirator with a vapor/particle cartridge whilst outside, rubber gloves, an apron, and face shield. I didn't know about the vapor rusting everything in sight, however. That is something worth knowing.
 
Stacy's warning should be considered in full effect, even concrete cleaning and pool grade Muriatic--he's not too far off from saying it's similar to WWII German Mustard Gas, it's actually the precursor to Mustard gas and its WWII offshoot, the chlorine gas poison zyklon B: Phosgene, first used in WWI.

Phosgene is a cobalt chloride, one of the reasons newbies to welding are told to never clean surfaces to be arc welded with stuff like brake cleaner us the arc's UV light will convert the vapors to phosgene.
I was exposed to it in my teens when a jug of muriatic in our garage began leaking and dripped onto some crates we used for when we'd release farm raised quail into reestablishment preserves. Combined with the concentrated urea/ammonia from the bird poo left in the crates, a chlorine gas was formed, and quickly filled the small closed shop.
I'd been working at a bench grinder sharpening a mower blade, between the ozone smell and focusing on what I was doing, nothing seemed off...next thing I knew I was laying outside on the ground as my brother hosed me down. I got real lucky, I'd blacked out and, had my brother not come out to tell me I had a phone call, would have likely died. Within as probably as little as 5 minutes, the shop had filled with fumes, and I'd been out for probably less than two, but it was enough to cause severe chemical burns throughout my sinuses and throat.
My airways were literally raw, for six weeks nothing but light fluid diet and breathing through a respirator to avoid infection. Growing up in Doc Holiday's home town, the man's life is heavily glorified, however, I do not envy how the man passed if it was even remotely like those six weeks I spent hacking up chunks of scabbed nasty.

My sense of smell and taste have never been the same--like a schmuck, I'm still a pack to a pack'n'ahalf a day smoker, but had to swap brands several times as some take on a phantom flavor of that horrible gas.

Call your local university and see who supplies their chemicals and safety gear--they maybe able to recommend an affordable local source for acid rated masks. If you ask really nicely, you may find someone in the biochem department interested in what you're doing and they'll let you use a ventshield, if not outright do it with you.

Typical Nitrile, poly, or latex gloves won't provide amble protection--get the rubberized heavy chem gloves, but use medical cloth tape to add a gripping surface so a container of acid doesn't fly.

To store, like FC, Use a length of capped PVC, but I would suggest sealing with Rain or Shine glue (the blue stuff) it has a PTFE sealant that should protect against chlorides.

I would strongly suggest two fans and outdoors--one large fan aimed at you and a smaller desktop sized fan on the bench pointing away to pull fumes away from you.
 
Yep, when I was a research chemist, we rarely paid much attention to most things that sane people worry about. Cyanide, formaldehyde, formic acid, and a host of others were handled with bare hands and no face protection or respirator. BUT, when we handled chlorine, especially Phosphorous pentachloride (PCl5) we put on all the gear.

I have probably told this story before, but it is a good one:
On day the OSHA guy was at the plant. He came to the research lab to check things out. We had never had OSHA check us, as they were mainly concerned with the production facilities. The inspector walked into Gene B's lab where he was doing the analysis on one of the products. The chemical was dissolved in lab grade acetone, and then the residue was dried and weighed. Gene was a three pack a day guy, and always had a cigarette dangling on his lip. The inspector hollered ,"Hey, put that cigarette out, that is acetone you are working with!" Gene gave him a dirty look,....and extinguished the cigarette in the beaker of acetone. I thought the OSHA guy was going to faint.
 
Finally got some nice pictures of this. Thanks for all the advice!

SethSantoku-1.jpg SethSantoku-2.jpg SethSantoku-handle1.jpg SethSantoku-signature.jpg

Blade: Chad Nichols Stainless Damascus
Blade Length: 7 3/4
OAL: 12 1/2
width: 1/8
Handle: Walnut
Bolsters: 416 Stainless
Pins: 416 Stainless
 
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