Try some etching solution, you'll like it!

Patrice Lemée

Patrice Lemée

Joined
Aug 13, 2002
Messages
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I am talking about etching your maker's mark. I was using some salt water, sometimes with a little vinegar thrown in. Tried all kinds of mix/ratio.

Well I finally bought some etching solution from Tracy at USA Knife Maker Supply. Tried it last week and let me tell you, I am never going back to anything else. At first I even thought that it was not working since there was no degassing/fizzing/heat build up. Went through the process just the same and lo and behold it worked perfectly. Nice dark crisp etch. (I use Ernie's stencils by the way) Should help a lot with stencil life without the heat. And on top of everything, the stuff is cheap. :thumbup:
 
Thanks for the recommendation. I'd been thinking about switching to commercial etchant, now I'll probably throw some into my next order from Tracy.
 
Yep, Tracy's stuff is great! Like Patrice said, very little heat and sizzle, yet a really good crisp etch/mark.

Tracy's solution and Ernie's stencils is a great combo!
 
Good to know! Been using salt water for a long time and it does heat up the stencils quite a bit. Think I too will get some on my next order. Thanks Patrice!
 
Thanks, been wondering if it was a significant improvement, I use Ernies stencils and salt water, and it takes about 10 cycles with the Q-tip to get a good etch.

Does the etchant speed things up for you?
 
I wholeheartedly agree. Best $5 I ever spent. Instantly went from fuzzy marks to crisp ones. Can't believe I held out for five stupid dollars and put a fuzzy mark on so many knives. As far as how fast it etches, maybe a little faster, but not remarkable.
 
Patrice, does it etch deep?? I like a nice deep etch and I too have been using salt water... I've been meaning to email the vender and ask why I've only been able to get about 8 good etches off a stencil?? I ruined an etch and it cost me about 30 minutes hand sanding....................... I think the salt water is the culprit...

thanks for the post..
 
Carl, it's 5$! One of the cheapest thing you'll need to buy. Wait a few years when any order you need to make will be more than 100 times that. :(;)

Robert, I used the same time/Qtips/etc. that I did with salt water and I can't tell for sure but to my eye it looked a little deeper. So that combined with the fact that it heats up less should serve your purpose very well.
 
Patrice Lemée;10492042 said:
Carl, it's 5$! One of the cheapest thing you'll need to buy. Wait a few years when any order you need to make will be more than 100 times that. :(;)
Click to expand...

I know but my mind tells me well if you gonna pay for shipping you might as well buy at least $100 worth of stuff you may or may not use. :)
 
True Grit sells an excellent etching solution. It does a great, clean etch quickly on carbon steel, titanium, aluminium, stainless steels and a bunch more. I've been using it for the past 7 years or more.
 
Can you show us a great mark on titanium Frank?

I have tried a dozen or so solutions, but haven't found one yet that leaves a decent mark.

I am really interested!
 
It's all good. I've had commercial solution for a couple of years. My weak point has been the stencils. Tried the type on kind. They're OK if you want 10 pt. Pica type. I then tried the develop your own (build the lightbox yourself, etc) with equally poor results. So, my question is: Who's Ernie and how to I contact him?

Thanks,

Bob
 
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