Etching with iron(III)chloride hexahydrate

A. G. Maisey · 21st October 2014, 10:41 PM

Here are three knives that I made.

My apologies for the slight reddish cast, these are super-quick pics and I'm wearing a red checked shirt.

The blades are mechanical damascus, the Marbles ripoff is 01+mild, the puuko and the trout/bird are 01+mild+nickel.

The topographic etch was done with hydrochloric acid (pool acid).

The colour stain was done with ferric chloride (FeCl3 - 42%).

After the colour stain they were let sit with a brushed on slurry of bicarbonate of soda for about 10 minutes, this was washed off, they were thoroughly dried and sprayed with WD40.

They were all brought to a high hand polish prior to the topographic etch, and polished again before the colour stain.

After the colour stain with ferric chloride they were lightly polished with worn 1200 W&D paper, then 0000 steel wool.

They were then sprayed with WD40, allowed to dry overnight and waxed with Antiquax.

The stain job was done over the laundry tub with a glass of ferric chloride and a toothbrush, the water was left running, the ferric chloride was continually applied and washed off until the colour I wanted was reached.

They were made about 20 years ago and have been sitting in a drawer wrapped in cloth since then, which I think demonstrates that we can store blades for extended periods unattended if the preparation is correct.

I've etched and stained more damascus, like this stuff shown, than I can count. I've cleaned and stained more keris and other SE Asian blades than I can count. I've never stained any Indo-Persian blades, but I cannot imagine that the process would be much different to that of staining any other mechanical damascus. Wootz might require a different technique, I don't know about this stuff, I've never cleaned nor stained it.

Pineapple juice, when it is good, is a great cleaning agent. It is a lousy etchant and a lousy staining medium.

21st October 2014, 10:41 PM	#1
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,994	Here are three knives that I made. My apologies for the slight reddish cast, these are super-quick pics and I'm wearing a red checked shirt. The blades are mechanical damascus, the Marbles ripoff is 01+mild, the puuko and the trout/bird are 01+mild+nickel. The topographic etch was done with hydrochloric acid (pool acid). The colour stain was done with ferric chloride (FeCl3 - 42%). After the colour stain they were let sit with a brushed on slurry of bicarbonate of soda for about 10 minutes, this was washed off, they were thoroughly dried and sprayed with WD40. They were all brought to a high hand polish prior to the topographic etch, and polished again before the colour stain. After the colour stain with ferric chloride they were lightly polished with worn 1200 W&D paper, then 0000 steel wool. They were then sprayed with WD40, allowed to dry overnight and waxed with Antiquax. The stain job was done over the laundry tub with a glass of ferric chloride and a toothbrush, the water was left running, the ferric chloride was continually applied and washed off until the colour I wanted was reached. They were made about 20 years ago and have been sitting in a drawer wrapped in cloth since then, which I think demonstrates that we can store blades for extended periods unattended if the preparation is correct. I've etched and stained more damascus, like this stuff shown, than I can count. I've cleaned and stained more keris and other SE Asian blades than I can count. I've never stained any Indo-Persian blades, but I cannot imagine that the process would be much different to that of staining any other mechanical damascus. Wootz might require a different technique, I don't know about this stuff, I've never cleaned nor stained it. Pineapple juice, when it is good, is a great cleaning agent. It is a lousy etchant and a lousy staining medium. Attached Images