etching stainless?

[sleepy]

I am getting medium grey color over entire surface low points will not turn black or even darker grey. Any tips/suggestions would be great I'm ready to pull out what little hair I have left. I have some damasteel that I etched according to thier instructions. I started out with warm sulphuric acid 30%-result barely see the pattern after 2 20 minutes soaks fresh acid each time. I progressed to warm muratic acid 2 soaks(1 15miute, 1 10minute) nice deep even etch across piece all light grey. I tried sulphuric after muratic nothing still light grey. I even tried soaking in white vinigar overnight-nothing. Am I missing a step or forgetting something?

Max

[shgeo]

Try the muriatic acid used as in their directions. It gives great contrast without much trouble. Handle with care. Did you remove the sulfuric etch before trying the muriatic?

[Larrin]

I've never tried it, but now that you have a deep etch, it might be possible to etch it in ferric chloride and then sand the RWL-34 bright again, the ferric chloride will probably attack the RWL-34, but the PMC27 will etch darker.

[sleepy]

Originally Posted by shgeo

Try the muriatic acid used as in their directions. It gives great contrast without much trouble. Handle with care. Did you remove the sulfuric etch before trying the muriatic?

Yep tried both according to the directions and many variations there of. I get a really good etch with the muratic its just that the low areas of the pattern dont really darken they stay a light grey.

I've never tried it, but now that you have a deep etch, it might be possible to etch it in ferric chloride and then sand the RWL-34 bright again, the ferric chloride will probably attack the RWL-34, but the PMC27 will etch darker.

I will try the ferric chloride if that doesn't work im to the point now im thinking about using black enamel or black epoxy to coat the low pattern.
Thank for the help.

[Larrin]

BTW, very few people get a really dark contrast with Damasteel, many top makers use it with just a light grey/bright. Some say that they like that look, and others admit they couldn't get it darker if they tried. There are some that get dark/bright though, so the question is, exactly what are they doing differently?

[Peldor]

Always wondered why no-one tried to use the AC current trick to etch stainless... works the same as marking your blade. On the last soak just give it a second or two hit of AC current and it should turn the non nickel metal much darker.
Or am I just all wrong? Seems like it would work.
thoughts?

[Larrin]

Originally Posted by Peldor

Always wondered why no-one tried to use the AC current trick to etch stainless... works the same as marking your blade. On the last soak just give it a second or two hit of AC current and it should turn the non nickel metal much darker.
Or am I just all wrong? Seems like it would work.
thoughts?

Damasteel doesn't have any nickel. Stainless damascus that does have a soft layer usually has an austenitic steel.

[sleepy]

BTW, very few people get a really dark contrast with Damasteel, many top makers use it with just a light grey/bright. Some say that they like that look, and others admit they couldn't get it darker if they tried. There are some that get dark/bright though, so the question is, exactly what are they doing differently?

Hmm that was the answer I was afraid I would get. I think I'm going to get some more damasteel and cut out a piece just for testing and see if I can find something. I do really like the way this stuff works and turns out other than the contrast color. One of the rings I made is not hardened at all the other is hardened some but I couldn't say exactly how much just enough to blow out the tip on a standard drill bit. The state fo the metal doesn't seem to make any difference at all in how well it etches or the resulting color. The rings don't look bad by any means but having the low areas darker would definitly make the contrasting pattern show up better without being so dependent on lighting and angle of viewing. Thanks for the suggestions I will post results if I find a good way to get a darker pattern.