etching - confused newbie

Battara · 8th January 2005, 09:22 PM

In another post, this is what I said about alum:

"Actually I have used alum on a kard and it does being out the little subtlties. It is still in progress. What I do is have a dish with a little water and a lot more alum until it becomes a watery paste, heat the mixture, and apply with a brush or rag (use distilled water). It will take lots of time, but the results are interesting. Water and alum make a weak acid. Hope this helps. I would only use this with wootz from India or Persia."

Even when I heat both blade and solution, it still is a slower but very controllable process and brings out the wootz pattern. I use other etchant like Radio Shack (diluted) for PI and other stuff.

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8th January 2005, 09:22 PM	#7
Battara EAAF Staff Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 7,272	In another post, this is what I said about alum: "Actually I have used alum on a kard and it does being out the little subtlties. It is still in progress. What I do is have a dish with a little water and a lot more alum until it becomes a watery paste, heat the mixture, and apply with a brush or rag (use distilled water). It will take lots of time, but the results are interesting. Water and alum make a weak acid. Hope this helps. I would only use this with wootz from India or Persia." Even when I heat both blade and solution, it still is a slower but very controllable process and brings out the wootz pattern. I use other etchant like Radio Shack (diluted) for PI and other stuff.