Hello Rick,
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I've always wondered if Stop Bath (used in B&W photography) would work; it's about the strongest solution of acetic acid that I know of.
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You can buy glacial acetic acid which is close to 100% - quite nasty stuff, actually.
I believe I did try acetic acid concentrations well into the range of photographic stopping solutions for etching but did not observe any major effect of concentration on the final staining. Only the etching time gets shorter and shorter with increasing concentration and so does the risk of unnecessary corrosion: Thus, not preferable in my book...
Ferric chloride certainly is a stronger stain. However, it is essential to completely neutralize it after etching and also to rinse the blade extensively since any remaining chloride ions (i. e. salt after successful neutralisation) will result in new rust developing. With a porous blade like old twistcore both, effective neutralisation and rinsing, poses quite a challenge!
Regards,
Kai