Etching Page 2

Wet the etch pad with your etch solution. Use a paper towel to blot out the excess solution in the etch pad to slightly more than damp but not dripping. Don’t get the etch chemical on anything you don’t want stained or to eventually rust. This will stain any natural scale product such as wood, stag or ivory. I’ve had a couple very nice wood scales stained badly with it. Just knowing this and being careful is usually enough. If you are really worried, mask off using vinyl electrical tape, anything you don’t want stained. Don’t worry about a few drips on the knife blade, that won’t hurt it and you will be cleaning that up in less than a minute anyway. Keep in mind there are different solutions for different metals. Salt water will work but not as well as a the specific solution for the specific metal.
Turn on the power. If you want to remove metal and make a deep etch (you do) set your machine to DC current. Apply the etch pad with light pressure over the stencil. You may hear some fizzing and crackling sound, almost like bacon frying. Count to 3, 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, well, you know. Lift up the etch lead to ‘degas', put it back down 9 more times just like that. After you have deep etched, turn your machine to the AC setting and press the etch lead down again just like before 4 more times. It’s done. I wrote my settings and counts in magic marker right on my machine case so it’s right in front of me.
Now you could just put a black etch on your knife using just the AC setting, but it’s almost certain it will rub off in short order. Deep etching removes enough metal, a couple thousands of an inch, to make a mark that will last as long as the knife. When you follow up a deep etch, with the AC, you blacken the deep etch for a nice, crisp black mark. Just so you know, AC takes off metal and puts it back on 60 times a second. DC takes metal off and leaves it in your etch pad. If your machine doesn’t deep etch well, you may have the leads reversed.

Now lets clear something up before we go any further. Each etch machine is different, along with the solution, knife steel, how fast you say 1 Mississippi (I had to look that up to spell correctly, do you believe that?), etc. I suggest you start with 10 DC etches at 2 to3 seconds each, followed up by 4 AC setting etches at 2 to 3 seconds each. You may need more or less etches, but this won’t be far off to start with. If you find it goes much shorter, you are probably burning up your stencils too quickly. If you are going a lot longer, you have better things to do, turn up the juice. Experiment with some scraps, record your times and do it that way from now on. If your machine doesn’t have power settings, it’s not a big deal, just adjust your times and counts.


	This blurry blob of a picture shows me etching a knife. Applying the etching lead, count slowly 1-2-3, lift slightly, do it again, etc. This will vary from machine to machine and various steel types and only experimentation will give you consistent results. Experiment and record your best results.

Turn off your machine and peel off the stencil. Nuetralize the steel that is wet from the etch chemical. Admire your new etched logo. It should be a couple thousands deep with sharp, crisp edges with dark lettering in the etch.
Clean up. You will need to clean up your stencil since most can be used several time. Some commercial stencils can be used dozens, maybe hundreds of times. I used some stencils that had to be thrown away after only a couple uses. You can fry a stencil quickly by using too high of a power setting on your machine. If your stencils get crisp or burn out quickly, lower the power on your etch machine and increase the number of touches to the stencil. My marking methods machine provides a clean up block to get stencils cleaned from the metal that tends to clog the stencil. It is basically a small piece of graphite (you can get blocks of graphite on eBay) with a ground lead connected. Put a cotton pad on it, soak it with solution, put the stencil on it, set your machine to DC, dab at it until the clogged stencil is clean. The graphite won’t deep etch so the machine will pull the metal out of the stencil instead.

Making your own stencil

There are several different manufactures of stencil material and methods of making them. We will use IMG materials for this tutorial.

The overall process is fairly simple.

Make a light box. It’s easier than you think.
Using your computer, make your stencil and print it out on clear acetate over head transparencies. Any office supply or discount store will have these.
Using your acetate image, place it on the light box, put some stencil material over the acetate, expose the stencil material, develop it and dry it. Doesn’t seem like it should be that easy does it?

First we need to make a light box. The hardest part will be finding a box you want to use. It can be made from wood, metal or plastic, it really doesn’t matter. Don’t get too hung up on finding the perfect box -but every one does. The stencils we will be making are only going to be a couple of inches square. The box has only one function, to expose the photo sensitive stencil material to a light source. You really don’t even need a box, you can just work in a darkened room (you will have a dim yellow colored bug light on to see - the stencil material is not sensitive to yellow light) , flip the light on, time it, flip the light off, develop it. No one reading this will stand for such a simple deal so all of you are going to have to make your own light box. Keep it simple - every one gets worked up about the box and they shouldn’t. It has to hold a light socket and a 100 watt florescent light bulb. It needs a lid and a piece of opaque plastic for the light to shine through. That’s it.

Here is my light box. It is some kind of electrical utility box I bought at Home Depot. The lid was made to screw into place. I used Duct tape for a hinge (see below) and it works great. I bought a piece of scrap opaque Plexiglas at the local closeout store for a buck. This box is maybe 9”x9”x4”. At Home Depot I also bought a lamp rewire/repair kit. It had a light socket, cord and switch all for a couple bucks. The light is a 60 watt florescent screw in light bulb, I’d get a 100 watt if I were you. It will be a couple minutes quicker. Looking at the top of the lid, I mounted some craft foam from Wal-Mart. It’s about 1/16” thick foam that is the in fabric department. Go ask the ladies back there for it. They’ll get a kick out of how lost you look in the fabric’s and craft department. I used White, I should have used black to absorb stray light that leaks around the back of the stencil. Felt would work just fine also. It is simply there to hold the stencil and transparency in place. Line the box with aluminum foil to reflect more light. I didn’t but Bob Warner does his that way. I forgot to. This picture is taken with the light box on and under yellow light. Note the hotspot of light in the light box. That is where I place the stencils.

My sophisticated developer tools. One Ducks Unlimited high ball glass, acid brush, dixie cup with measuring lines for mixing and off to the side that you can’t see is a stop watch I wear around my neck for timing and a little goose neck lamp with a yellow 60 watt bug light bulb in it. I use the glass to develop the stencil in. The developer solution is mixed in a ratio with plain tap water. The IMG process we are using here uses 3 parts water to 1 part solution. A small amount is all you need for several stencils. I just grabbed a glass I had around the house. Who drinks high balls anymore anyway? I wrote the instructions, mixing ratios and exposure times I have settled on right on the light box in sharpie marker. It won’t get lost that way and I know I will forget it all between uses. I write on a lot of my tools.


				My light box with some acetate transparencies. Bob Warners is much fancier. You can see the designs on the acetate sheets are a little different. I’ve been experimenting with etching different designs on bolsters for faux engraving. I have mixed feelings on this. On some knives it comes out and looks fairly decent. On other knives it looks cheap. An etch like this will never come close to replacing engraving but it can add something to a knife if it is done right. When I’ve shown a knife with patterns etched in to people, even to some other knife makers, they thought it was engraving. It will never fool any one with a good knowledge of engraving but a lot of people like it. These patterns came from copy right free CD-ROM’s from Dover Publications. I’ve also made a few using my CAD program. Keep in mind getting very fine lines to reproduce in your stencil will take some practice and trial and error testing, but it can be done. The stencil material is no where near as light sensitive as photo film is so a little light in the room is OK but if you find that the fine lines never quite develop as well as you like, your stencil material may have been exposed.

Here is the only picture I have of an etched knife with a pattern from one of the Dover books. See how the name is etched in and has been etched black. The pattern etch has been engraved with a frosted background which is another switch on the Marking Methods machine. You can etch your name in a knife blade almost as deep as a hot stamp will be for forgers. You will have to decide if you like the affect or not.

If I did it over again, I would make the light box big enough to use for (small) knife pictures also. I use a stopwatch to time the exposures. Set the timer, hang it around your neck, go do something until it beeps. There is a lot of tolerance in exposure times so hitting the exact second of your established exposure time isn’t real critical. There are only vague guidelines given for exposure times since the light level will vary so much. I suggest you start with a small test logo at 2 minutes and keep doubling the times until you find the sweet spot by going past it and exposing the stencil material too long. It will take 4 or 5 trial runs to zero on an acceptable time. (I bolded that as every one seems to miss it) Use fresh developer and constant temperature water with each trial run so you eliminate those variables. After you have the exposure time established, you can get several stencils developed from one small batch of solution. Keep in mind the cost of this is very minimal given the small amount of materials so I use fresh developer for every stencil. It will make a difference in the quality of your stencil.


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