This is an easy way to mark you steel stuff. Some will say " why not just engrave" well this is a lot more easy and most of us don't have an engraver. You can be as creative as you like, just remember once you start with the etching there no turning back so make 100% sure before you etch that the pics or words are correct.
The list of things you will need is as follows
- 6 amp chargers (I use my battery charger)
- white vinegar
- salt
- ear buds
- mixing bowl
- and some of your wifes/girlfriends nail polish ( I prefer red
)
See pic
now choose the design or words you want on the surface, I just print it out and have it near so I can copy
The Design (New Zealand Maori Tatoo)
The surface of your steel should be clear and clean of oil and dirt then apply the nail polish bigger then your pic.
Once the desired thickness is obtained you can start you letter/design. I use a bamboo stick (sosatie stick) with a sharp point. Nail polish take about 5 to 10 min to dry so you have enough time to do the art work. Taking the point of the stick just scrap the area you want etched away.
Just be very carefull as you will see in the pic I did not wait for the nail polish to dry and this will result in the edges being rough.
Once the nail polish is dry you then mix you solution of vinegar and salt. The ratio should be 1 teaspoon to 60/80 ml of vinegar. Make sure all the salt has dissolved before adding it to your earbud
Now connect you positive clamp (red) to the work area making sure that this will not come into contact with the negative clamp ( black ) as this will cause a spark. Then connect you earbud to the negative clamp making sure that the wool is in contact with the calmp.
the connection of you negative clamp
Now dip you negative clamp and only wetting the cotton wool section of the earbud and apply to the area that you want to etch. Just make sure you have enough solution as to cover the tip and not to much so that the solution runs all over you project.
In the pic below you can clearly see the etching process at work as it will turn the metal black. You will also see fumes rising from the work piece but that is normal
Warning please do not smoke or use naked flames around the work piece when etching.
The more you etch the deeper it will go so be careful. I etched this for about 5 to 7 min and got about + - 0.5 mil depth to my etch.
Etch complete, you can now see the whole area that I want etched has turned black.
Now take some nail polish remover or thinners and clean the nail polish of and you should have an etching of the letters/design.
closeup pic of the etched area you can see the edges are not perfect that is because I did not let the nail polish dry properly. Oh one more tip on application, do not press the bud to hard to the work surface it more a dab dab process.
The longer you etch the deeper the design will be and it will take about 2 days to get through 1.6 mm of steel.
Ok I really need to go fish cause this is what you do when you bored.
any questions are welcome
