Damascus question

[jtbluefeather871]

I am wondering if anybody has a good recipe for etching Damascus. I've used ferric chloride, muriatic acid, vinegar, mixes of those, weak solutions, strong solutions, different soak lengths.  I'm at my wit's end.  How do you get the Damascus pattern sharp and clear???    
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Bobby Urban]

It may be the steel and not the etchant.  If the steels do not contrast much it will be hard to get anything but a lightly muted pattern to show up not matter what you use or how long you soak it.  tell us what steels you used and maybe that could help.  

Look at skullworks latest showing with a tiger pattern.  The steels are 1095 and 15n20 if I am not mistaken and they are some of the best contrasting out there.

[wissler]

Did you heat the Ferric Chloride.
I got some advice from one of the pros on the site and brought the colors out at 110 degrees
Room temp did nada on my blade

[jtbluefeather871]

Have not heated it yet.  I'll give that a go.  It's a 1095/15N20 Damascus. How did you heat it?

[Lin Rhea]

Mix 4 to 1, distilled water to ferric. Do several short etches, killing the acid with amonia and degreasing in between etches. It has to be clean before you put it in the etchant. If you rinse in tap water, dry and degrease before putting it in the etchant. Wear latex gloves, etc. Anything to make sure the etchant is not compromised.

[jtbluefeather871]

Thank you sir.  How long is a short etch? I've been using acetone to degrease. I have not used ammonia to kill the acid yet, usually I rinse in water and wash it with acetone before re-etching.  I'm also a paramedic so I always use gloves!    :D   thanks again, I'll give it another go.

[kbaknife]

Acetone is a great degreaser, but being phenol based, is very likely to leave unwanted residues, if not a complete film, on your steel making a real mess of etching.
Lin is very correct in that your steel needs to be nearly surgically clean prior to etching.
I use lacquer thinner as a cleaner, if I feel there's been any unwanted oily or greasy contact with anything in the shop.
But, following degreasing, the degreaser needs to be removed as well.
For that I take the blade to the kitchen sink with a soft bristle tooth brush and clean with a spray bottle filled with Simple Green and rinse well with cool water.
After that, I do NOTHING.
No wiping, no drying. Because then you risk contaminating the blade with whatever you use to wipe or dry!
Why dry?
You're just gonna stick it into a bath of fluid that's 75-80% water! Just leave it wet.
Now, that said, you didn't mention what the Damascus components were, or to what degree of finish you have taken the blade.
We need more info.

[Doug Campbell]

I use the same 1 to 4 ferric to distilled water as most folks. I degrease with acetone but use Windex for the final wash then dry completely with a clean paper towel prior to going into the etchant. I typically let soak for 4-5 minutes, take out and clean with a soft toothbrush and Windex, dry and back into the etchant for another 4-5 minutes. I do this till I'm satisfied with the finish I get on the blade. Like Lin and Karl said above, be very careful not to contaminate you "clean" blade, if you do it will be obvious when it comes out of the etch.

I store my etchant in a 3" Sch 40 PVC pipe with a cap on it, this is stood in a 5 gal plastic bucket that is half full of fine gravel. This gives me a good solid stand and is a back-up in case I ever have a leak or spill.

Some years ago I "stole" an old heating pad from the bathroom closet and wrapped it around the pvc pipe and taped in place. There are three heat settings, this allows me to maintain the etchant at the temp I want in the winter regardless what the shop temp is. Warm etchant will certainly be more aggressive than cold etchant so be careful if you go there.

[jtbluefeather871]

I'm still working on my blade making skills, so for now I'm getting blanks to build knives out of.  But I am trying to put Damascus bolsters on a blade, and want to get the bolsters looking good before I attach them to the blade.  I've also got a length of the Damascus left to turn into a blade when I feel more confident grinding regular steel.  Thanks for the info, I'll keep trying and if it turns out well, I'll post some pics when it's done!
Thanks again,

John

[Kevin Evans]

I also do as the gentleman say above only thing that I do that may be a little diffent is clean with cotton ear swab after one minute etch and do this every five minutes(clean with swab) or so.
Doug what temp?
I also clean with soap and water like Karl only I use regular dawn diswashing soap.
I don't mess with temp of etch but probabably should I notice it etches better (or at least faster in the summer)


After re-reading the original post  one of the questions where what will make it sharp and clear? IMHO I think 203E and 1095 make it sharp and clear,I don't do it much because I am still learning my steels,I am sure someone can help you with those steels if you ask.
 
Anyone that has read ,I have question .Should probably start new thread but hopefully someone will ansewer?How do you know when your done etching?
When you get the depth you think is correct(when you can feel it with your fingernail)?
When its looks pretty ?
After a certain # of minutes ?
Or just what someone told you ?