Etching Tutorial and swappin' love

Okay, I promised an etching tutorial and so an etching tutorial you will get. I SO love using this technique in my jewelry as it adds so much interest and texture. Without further adieu....

Two posts ago I gave a ratio that was backwards. I'm so embarrased even though I've corrected it. The ratio is TWO parts hydrogen peroxide (the cheap drugstore variety) and ONE part muriatic acid (available in the masonry section of darn near any hardware store). If at all possible, execute this process out doors. The fumes are corrosive (if left in an open container) and nasty smelling. Wearing goggles and gloves is STRONGLY suggested even if outdoors.

Before I mix the acid solution, I prepare a baking soda water bath to have on hand. This will instantly neutralize any acid spill. Also keep the soda box on hand just in case. :) MAKE SURE the container is at least 4-5 times the total volume of the acid solution so that you can use it later to neutralize the acid solution which bubbles and expands like a crazy person when added to the soda water.

Prepare your metal. This process works for brass, nickel/silver and copper (not sterling. That's a whole other beast.) There are a few different ways to transfer images onto metal (refer to my book *wink* *wink* for more ideas). Shown here are two - using a rubber stamp and a black dye ink pad, making sure it is very dry before submersion. The other is using a craft store stencil and white, heavy bodied acrylic paint. All pieces are backed with masking tape burnished really well around the edges. A thick coat of acrylic paint would work as well but then it has to dry and I don't like waiting for paint to dry if I don't have to.

Pour peroxide into large, plastic container. SLOWLY add the acid to the peroxide.

Place the metal pieces in the solution and plan to gently swirl the container often to keep the mixture agitated. The agitation helps carry the etched metal haze off the pieces allowing for fresh solution to touch the surface and continue etching. Die hard circuit board etchermakerpeople will put the hose end of an aquarium pump in it to cause continuous bubbles. If you happen to have an extra pump lying around the studio (c'mon..you have everything else under the sun in there!!), give it a try.

You will notice the solution start to turn a pretty shade of blue-green. This means it's working. On this particular etching day, this took about 5 minutes for it to turn this color.

Things to do while metal is etching (between swirling rounds):
1) count the dots on your rainy-day-etching-outside-boots.

2) Feed the runny babbit

3) Stir the pot of azuki beans cooking on the stove.

4) Thank a dear friend for his tenderly kept spring garden - my own little corner of sunshine in this gray spring.

Now, back to work... Using tweezers that you'll promise NEVER to use to pluck your eyebrows with, grab the tape of one of the pieces, lift it out of the solution and drop immediately into the soda water. Watch it bubble as it neutralizes.

I pulled the three pieces out at varying intervals of time. The first piece with the beehive and the grass came out after only 5 minutes. The nest - after 10, and the nickel/silver piece, after 12-15 or so. The pictures don't show it but the depth of the etch is a bit deeper on the ones left in longer.

After I neutralized the pieces, removed the tape, washed with a soda paste under running water (just for extra measure) and dried it, I added blackening agent to patina the pieces. (It turns them black). I then sanded over everything with 400 grit wet/dry sand paper to highlight areas. Viola!

When you are done etching, make sure you are in a safe area and slowly pour the acid solution into the soda water. It will bubble pretty dramatically. Add a little at a time after each previous addition slows down the bubbling. When all the acid is poured and the bubbles have mellowed, gently swirl the container a few times to reactivate any more neutralizing that still needs to happen. When the mix stops bubbling, the solution is neutralized. It turns another lovely shade of opaque green.

Now, here's for the part where you get to execute your best judgment. I etched here and there and make such small batches of solution that I have no problem dumping the neutralized solution into the gravel of my driveway and  hosing it for a while. If you live in an apartment, it might be a good idea to check into a hazardous waste disposal site. You be the judge. Supposedly neutral means neutral, but I'm finding a lot of different information on how to dispose of it. Whatever you feel the most comfortable with.

There, now that the tutorial is done, here are a few teaser pictures of a project I just passed onto a friend...this is just a small portion of the project I sent on. A year long exchange with 11 other incredible artists. All of whom I admire greatly as artists, mothers and friends. I'm so honored to be a part of the group (I think I'm supposed to keep the names secret for now, but in a year when it's all done, you'll not be disapointed, for sure!). :)

Okay, off to bed with my favorite new book.

Comments

[Jean Van Brederode]

Thanks for the well-written & very helpful tutorial :~) I loved the "Things to do while metal is etching" in your delightful style! Hopefully, today's attempt for me will be better than yesterday's. You are right about using caution - this stuff is nasty & needs to be treated with respect. Thanks again for the beautifully done explanation!
Jean

[Sharon at Norah'S]

Had to stop in and say thank you for this wonderfully written tutorial. Someday I just might need to try this. You never know. I always enjoy your post.

[wanda miller]

TTTTTTTTTTTTthhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnkkkkkkkkkkkk you for the tutorial,stephanie. i am so visual and hands on, and your book is so great for that! i can't wait to dig is so i might know a little something before your classes. carolyn and i chose classes that are far and away from what we do ordinarily..oh wait what's ordinary? Love, wanda

[Judy Wise]

Wonderful tutorial Stephanie! Mmmm, makes me want to get out the copper and have a go. Love those pokey-dotted boots too. xoxox

[Charmingdesigns]

Hi. I am new to you..I have ordered your book, I have signed up at Clackamas for your "chain" and Junk classes. I would like to bring a bit of sterling silver to class. 18-20 gauge?? and how much, a foot...or 2?? I like the idea of "old" looking silver...what is the best wire to get for that? In the book will it go over what kind of torch to get?? Thanks a bunch. Laurie

[Jen]

thanks steph! i tried the same method, and it works great, probably a mixed blessing that radio shack KO'd the PCB. so much faster, but definitely stinkier. a trade off i can live with.

[karen cole]

Took a few classes with you last year at Art and Soul. Will be back for more (Hampton).

What a great tutorial, Stephanie!! I plan on trying it asap...I use copper a lot....drawing into and embossing then painting. This will be a great addition.

So....did you like science when you were in school? :-) Wouldn't this have been a great science project.

[posypusher]

thank you for the great information.
this is so much better than having to send off for esoteric materials.
i am a convert to muriatic acid.
on a somber note i read a story of murderer who tried to get rid of bodies with the stuff.....but we don't do that with bad husbands-do we?

[posypusher]

thank you for the great information.
this is so much better than having to send off for esoteric materials.
i am a convert to muriatic acid.
on a somber note i read a story of murderer who tried to get rid of bodies with the stuff.....but we don't do that with bad husbands-do we?

[katie]

fabulous tutorial stephanie, thank you!!! and i loved trotting along with you, taking your little breaks to feed bunny, stir soup, and whisper with St. Francis...

[Tish]

Hi Stephanie:

Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful tutorial! In addition to the white paint, you can also use White Out - especially cool since it now comes in pens as a resist. We tried it in school with silver and copper and it worked beautifully.

[Tish]

I forgot to give you thanks, thanks and more thanks for all your safety reminders. There are people out there who teach this technique and never even mention the hazards to both people and the environment.

And, last, but not least - you so funny!

[robruhn]

Thanks so much for the tutorial, must try it along with the other things in your fabulous book.

[Jen crossley]

Thanks for sharing Steph your amazing.LOve your sneek peek to
Jen

[Chris]

My current favorite book is yours. Every day I'm perusing it and getting new ideas. Thank you for writing this!!! ( yes, I already thanked you before)
You can't realize how invigorating it is for me to have a new book of ideas and techniques, all packaged in archeological whimsy. Bless you.

[heather]

I just bought your book today, I'm so glad I checked your blog. I have wanted to do the etching forever! I can't wait to try it out. Thank you for sharing this alternative. Your book is wonderful and I plan on telling everyone I know about it!

[melissa]

LOVE LOVE LOVE THE BOOK!

Info on the muriatic acid bath:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Stop-using-Ferric-Chloride-etchant!--A-better-etc/

When using it with copper, apparently you can reuse the solution!

[Crystal]

Stephanie thank-you for such an excellent tutorial. I have had such disatisfying results with the PCB solution that I can't wait to try this.
I sat in the bookstore last weekend and drooled over your new book. There are so many good ones out lately that I can't keep up, but this one made it to the top of my "must have" list. Congratulations!
Crystal

[Jamie]

Yes, thanks for the great tutorial! I loved your book so much that I ordered a 2nd copy and sent it to my friend who I don't get to see nearly enough. She loves it too.

I picked up the Muriatic Acid at Tractor Supply Company today. I have a few sheets of copper and brass. I've been pouring through pages and pages of information on the internet but was still a little shaky on it all. I don't know how I missed this tutorial before. It makes perfect sense to me now!

The water/oughta thing confuses me. I read another good one, the AAA golden rule - Always Add Acid. It's easier for me to remember. Hopefully I won't blow the barn up.

[Christy Grant]

THANK you for providing this! I ordered your book today but it was killing me do this so I took a chance and came to your blog. My friend Beth Bricker made us a TDF necklace with an etched plaque on it (she'd learned from your book) and her trades at Hampton were etched coins (I got one of those, too!) LOVE your bunny pic, too!

[Molly Alexander]

I just read this tutorial and it is terrific! I've been using ferric chloride for my etching and it works very well, but the waiting time drives me crazy! (I am very impatient...) I'm looking forward to trying this technique out! Thanks so much!

[arlee]

WOW this is FANTAStic!! I had no idea it was so simple, or that i could get the chemicals easily. Thank you!!!!!!

[melissa]

JUST LOVE THIS BOOK! I have some copper foil and I tried the etching technique....which worked great, but almost ate right through! I need to get some thicker sheet, but I can't find in the book exactly what gauge nickel and copper you were using. I may just be missing it, but can you post what thickness is easy to cut, but thick enough to etch? Thank you so much and I'm already waiting on your NEXT BOOK!

[Lennie Poitras]

Thanks for the great info! and I love your runny babbit!

[Carla]

Thanks for sharing!! Look forward to purchasing your book sometime soon!

[nancycreations.blogspot.com]

Wow love the tutorial love your stuff my kind of jewelry

[Jim]

Hello Stephanie,

I just came across your wonderful tutorial on copper etching and just love it. I would like to speak with you about writing the tutorial for the June issue of Wire Art Magazine (www.wireartmag.com). If you are interested please contact me via email at [email protected] and we can discuss the details.

Thank You,
Jim McIntosh
Editor, Wire Art Magazine
http://www.wireartmag.com
email: [email protected]

[Anne-Marie]

My brother the chemical engineer explained to me that the toxicity is not only in the acid solution it is in the copper compound that remains. This copper sludge should go to a hazardous waste facility.

Excellent tutorial with the safety instructions.

[Michelle]

To echo Anne-Marie even if the solution is neutral, it is not safe to dump it on the ground.

Copper chloride and other copper compounds are extremely toxic to aquatic wildlife. Please dispose of it as hazardous waste. You may also contact your local university to see if they can help you dispose of it.

- a biochemist and naturalist

[Mary Endris]

This is the best tutorial I have seen on this process yet. I have tried it and now I am obsessed with etching. Thank you so much!