Hello boys and girls,
I'm trying to get a nice high contrast etch on a piece of damasteel, ( I;m using it for jewlery) and can't seem to get it. I'm looking for a black/bright contrast. I'm using muratic acid and getting a grey/bright etch. It looks good, but ya relly gotta look to see the etch. These are small items, so the more contrast the better. Is there a way to get a darker contrast between the two alloys???

Thanks again

It would depend on your alloys, but I have found that Ferric Chloride produces a nice black iron oxide color on my pattern weld. In addition I have found the best color and etch comes from a fresh dilute formula.

I use Radio Shack's printed circuit board etch as my source for Ferric Chloride. I dilute this 4 to 1 with water. When I have a fresh solution I find I get a very good color. Ferric Chloride builds up Black Iron Oxide so fast, it can inhibit the etching action. So I dilute for a slower, deeper etch. When the color starts to drop off (but it's still etching), the solution is worn and it's time to replace it.

As to your alloy. A simple 10XX series high carbon steel etches the darkest. I like 1095 or 1084 for the dark layers in my mix. Carbon enhances the formation of black iron oxide. However other alloying elements can retard the formation of the oxide.

One alloy mix I have fun with is 1095, 15N20 and pure Nickel. This mix gives me three colors. Dark grey to black for the 1095, light grey for the 15N20 and bright silver for the Nickel.

Jeremy, the only actual reference I found to damasteel etching on this forum was done with muriatic acid, but no foto was proferred to see the results.

I would strongly recommend you contact Jens Anso via email and ask him directly. He gets some excellent contrast on his Damasteel blades, and uses it often enough he will have a firm method.

Methodology will probably be as important as the actual etching agent.

Good luck.

I am no expert on damascus but from what I have learned, the muriatic acid is the way to go with Damasteel. A few folks that I know actually heat the Muriatic Acid in a pyrex container on a hot plate for better results. You will also get different results on hardened vs non-hardened steel.

Bill

It would depend on your alloys, but I have found that Ferric Chloride produces a nice black iron oxide color on my pattern weld. In addition I have found the best color and etch comes from a fresh dilute formula.

The problem is that Damasteel is stainless, which etches better with muriatic than ferric chloride.

Thanks for the input; I do a half ass heat treat to these pieces; ie torch and quench. I'm making rings so drawing a temper is not importent here. I've been trying different things and found that if I make my piece, finish to about 600-800, etch in muratic about 5 min. Then I take it and heat till glowing, quench in oil which leaves a black burnt oil finish as you all know. Then I lightly sand with 1000 to remove the black from the top leaving it in the valleys. This seems to work ok giving nice contrast. I'm still looking for some sulpheric acid, Mike Walker's site says etching in this gives a black/bright etch. I'm having a hard time finding it.
Thanks again,

I have yet to try Sulpheric Acid...but you can get it at any Auto Supply store...(it's also known as BATTERY ACID!) ;)
It comes in a box...I bought the one sitting in front of me a few weeks ago and as I recall, a 32 fluid oz box was under $10 bucks. (Like all of the battery acid I've seen in the various auto stores, this box contains Sulpheric Acid and Water...unfortunately it doesn't give the ratio of acid to water...As always, when the time comes, I'll just experiment with it first before proceeding).

For what it's worth, the blade on my "Rock 'n Roll Typhoon" is Norris Stainless Damascus...I believe it's fairly close in composition to Damasteel. I was originally going to use Muriatic acid...Bought a big bottle of the stuff at Home Depot. But I experimented first with a couple of different "aged"/used batches of F.C. and Distilled water I keep stored in plastic containers, and the results looked quite good to me. I wanted a nice dark contrast, so that's what I wound up using. I was very happy with the way it turned out...Great contrast!:
http://a2.cpimg.com/image/10/11/35030032-b65a-02350143-.jpg

I've etched quite a few damascus bolsters (most of it's been carbon damascus). Every time I plan on using damascus, I always play around with it first...Experimenting with different etchant ratios...and seeing what happens if I warm it first... Every piece, every pattern has it's own character...and it's certainly easy enough to sand off and try again (assuming you don't go too deep)...or just try experimenting on a small piece of leftover scrap.

I found that boiling the steel after the etch in baking soda and water for 10 minutes, helps to set the oxides. And if you don't brush out the etched "valleys" after each dip (with a clean toothbrush), the residue will act as a resist, counter-productive to getting a nice, clean, deep etch.

Hope some of that helped.


Dennis Greenbaum

Yeah Baby! :smokin

Proper heattreat really is alfa and omega on damasteel to get a good etch...even though it is only a ring I would heattreat it right..I have done a few bolsters with torch and never got the same good results as when I have my stuff pro heattreated..that said I use a 5-10% warm solution of H2So4 (Sulfuric acid)...I etch about 3-5 mins.....rinse with baking soda desolved in water....

finish is another very important factor...I handrub everything to 1200 grit pre etch and then 1200 again post etch....hope this helps

You might be able to get a little better contrast with sulfuric acid than muriatic, but muriatic is pretty good. Ferric Chloride won't do very well with it though. Sulfuric acid seems to be better with double high carbon stainless than muriatic. I doubt you'll be able to get a dark/bright etch though, at least not to the point that high contrast damascus will give you. You will probably be able to get a fairly dark grey against the bright though. And like he said, heat treat is very important. Look at what others have ended up with from damasteel (like Jens Anso), you're not going to be able to get any better contrast than that.

You can use FeCl - you just need to heat it up to about 180F or so. I learned the technique from Reese Weiland. It works pretty good:

http://www.doggettcustomknives.com/images/nyfixed03.jpg

I've also seen damasteel blades deep etched, then buffed out. That looks pretty cool, too.

I appreciate this thread. I am to make a Damasteel twist and this thread will help me in my etching of her.

I see my buddy Osprey's mug shot here too. HI Dennis.

RL

Thanks for all the imput guys, I just found a little bit of sulfuric in my dads garage. I gonna try that on a piece once. Thats a sharp knife dogman, I like the blade steel.

Jeremy