brucegodlesky Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Here's one I made for my wife from some leftover cable I had worked up. They are a lot of fun to make. The pattern gets finer the more you draw it out. The etchant had some sediment in the bottom and made some odd vertical lines visible on the front of the blade. Thanks for looking bruce/birdog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqeezplay Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 how long do you etch your wire rope? i've tried a couple different times, but can't seem to get a pattern to pop out. i've done 4 minutes, 30 seconds, and 6 minutes. do you think i should try 20? 30? i like the knife, way to use every last piece you get! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Are you diluting the etchant enough? You need it weak as there is not a whole lot of difference to etch out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqeezplay Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 i think i have about 1 parts etchant to two or three parts water.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sqeezplay Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 my etchant is in a long cylindrical tube, do i need to stir it alot to mix the etchant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Hello: Hope no one minds my tuppence here... OK I use good old Radio shack PCB etchant (Ferric chloride) and I dilute that 3 parts water to one part PCB etchant. Now this is a SLOW etch, I usually eych my stuff for about and hour to and hour and a half..up to two hours depending upon what it is... JPH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brucegodlesky Posted December 21, 2007 Author Share Posted December 21, 2007 I found that there is no set time. One constant is the finer the finish the better. Some blades just get a few minutes , then into the club soda, rinse,steelwool, rinse. and back into the acid. This particular knife took 4 dunkings of about 20 minutes each. It was down to a 400gr finish, too. My etchant has been used quite a bit so I poured it into half a plactic jug so the blade was lying flat in the mixture. Time for a new batch. I don't know if it can be strained or not. The bottom of the vessel gets pretty ugly with sediment. DrJim, does it hurt to refresh an old mixture with new FECL? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPH Posted December 21, 2007 Share Posted December 21, 2007 Bruce: While you CAN do it...and I have done it every now and then, and when it stops etching "clean" usually I just bite the bullet and replace the whole batch of etchant...Easy enough to do really... You can "safely refresh" it a couple of times by pouring off say 1/4 of and then add "fresh" PCB etchant....straight from the bottle.... I do this once or twice a batch of solution and I replace it when the etchings start to "muddy out"... JPH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbaknife Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 Sweet little knife, Bruce!! (Make a nice patch knife!) I always see how people use etchant in different ways. Bruce is sure right on one point - the finer the finish the better the etch. Whether I am ethcing 5160 to show edge quench, wrought iron to show grain, or Damascus to show pattern weld, I always take my blade up to full polish - hand sanded all the way through 1500 grit with NO sanding marks and then buffed. The better the finish - the better the etch. Folks also confuse mixing water in with DILUTING - as in weaker. That's not the case. The FeCl needs the oxygen and the hydrogen in the water to work! If you just use straight FeCl almost no etching will occur! The water is an important part of the recipe. I usually etch my Damascus for 30 - 45 minutes, removing each 10 minutes to clean off the surface with a fresh cotton ball. As the oxides build up on the surface of the steel, it creates a BARRIER between the steel and the FeCl. No etching takes place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caver95 Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 Is that what you did to your integral hunter? I like that look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete46 Posted December 22, 2007 Share Posted December 22, 2007 Sweet little knife, Bruce!! (Make a nice patch knife!) I always see how people use etchant in different ways. Bruce is sure right on one point - the finer the finish the better the etch. Whether I am ethcing 5160 to show edge quench, wrought iron to show grain, or Damascus to show pattern weld, I always take my blade up to full polish - hand sanded all the way through 1500 grit with NO sanding marks and then buffed. The better the finish - the better the etch. Folks also confuse mixing water in with DILUTING - as in weaker. That's not the case. The FeCl needs the oxygen and the hydrogen in the water to work! If you just use straight FeCl almost no etching will occur! The water is an important part of the recipe. I usually etch my Damascus for 30 - 45 minutes, removing each 10 minutes to clean off the surface with a fresh cotton ball. As the oxides build up on the surface of the steel, it creates a BARRIER between the steel and the FeCl. No etching takes place. THANK YOU SO MUCH ,NOW I KNOW! THE LIGHT IS ON;THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbaknife Posted December 23, 2007 Share Posted December 23, 2007 Is that what you did to your integral hunter? I like that look. No - different deal. That's W1 shallow hardening steel that had the spine covered by clay and quenched in fast oil. After tempering, the blade was sanded to 400 grit. Then etched for only 3 minutes. Then lightly sanded to 600. In this process we're not trying to eat away material, but only trying to EXPOSE differential procedure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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