Hydrochloric failure is not an option

Here is the stainless I attempted to etch with hydrochloric acid this weekend. I accidentally used the acid I had diluted for use in our pool, so nothing was etching. So I added the non-dilute acid and the etching began but the paint I had applied as a resist to the back bubbled off. Ooops. Ok, going to use that stainless as splint material under leather. Also, going to give to try and give the stainless steel a electric etch like I did with my first belt back in 2005. I'll also try the acid again with a better block out on back.

Copper Chopper

Here are some of the results using the 32 oz copper.

Mid patina.

Raw copper ready for patina.

~1" x 1.5" mid patina

Mid patina.

Single patina application.

Miyamoto Musashi - The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書 Go Rin No Sho)

1.5" x 2" Brass, 22 gauge

1.5" x 2" Copper, 18 gauge

These are taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Musashi_ts_pic.jpg which was done by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Do yourself a favor and check out more of Utagawa Kuniyoshi's work. Unbelievable. I will definitely be trying my hand at reproducing some more of his art.

These etched really well. The copper I just picked up is  very different from the brass. So it's all new which is fun and happy accidents happen more often.

These are not the finished photo's. More like 3/4 finished. Not polished or waxed. I'll see about getting one more photo before sending them off to the customer.

Oh ya. I have customers. So cool.

Sell Off

UPDATE:
I've updated pics with what is currently available.

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$10 per plate.

Brass plates are all etched from 22 gauge brass. The copper plates are from 18 gauge.
 
Contact me @ rfoushee@gmail.com if you have any questions or if you would like to reserve a plate.

If you like these but would like something custom contact me and maybe we can work something out. Thanks. 

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to commision one of these designs or something entirely new.

Copper 1 5/8" x 2" - DS2 A

Copper 1 5/8" x 2"- DS2 B

2" x 2" brass - CB A

Copper 1 5/8" x 2" - DS1 A

Copper 1 5/8" x 2" - DS1 B

Copper 2" x 2" - CG C

Brass 2" x 2"

Brass 2" x 2"

Brass 1 1/2" x 2"

Brass 2" x 2"

Latest Run of Etches

2" x 2" brass - Gullinbursti

 These were all etched at the same time. Vinegar and salt patina. Heat to finish.

I'm looking to sell some of these to continue paying for more experiments. So if you're interested contact me at rfoushee at gmail dot com.

Dragonspine Part II

3 days of vinegar and salt patina. I wish the etch was deeper so I could get more aggressive with the sandpaper. That would make the dragon and mountains really pop.

Soccer Bracelets (almost) Done

Whitney punch arrived! It's a beast. So I was finally able to punch the holes for the soccer bracelets. Just need another clasp for Muirin's to be finished with them.

Artemis the Huntress

2" x 1.5" Brass

The vinegar and salt wasn't doing anything visible to this etch for some reason. Very strange, so I green scrubbed it with soap and water. Then used open flame to oxidize it. Then I went a different direction with the patina. Which I'm glad I did.

Bought a much larger plastic etch tank with a lid. Walmart $4. It came in a pack of two. Sweet deal.

I bought a heating pad to help keep the temperature of the etchant up after the initial heating with hot water. I think it is working well although this bottle of etchant is just about exhausted. I may try and slip over to IMS(metal supply) to pick up some more material.

I'm planning to do a much larger etch of this.

Just read a link on using hard boiled eggs to patina the brass. Will try that in the future.

My god it's full of stars

2" x 2" brass

Definitely one of my top three I've done so far. The purple patina and gold specks make me think of a planetary nebula.

Square Medallion

2" x 2" square brass medallion

 Rachel wanted me to make her something so this is it. It's a bit over 2" square medallion. This one required a double etching as I wanted the kids names to be etched down and the R's to be raised. So the kids name where etched first, then mask was removed and a second mask with the vines and R's was added. First time trying this technique and I think I will do some more pieces with it.

The new paper is consistently not giving a really good transfer on the edges. I'm not sure why as I'm spending extra effect to get good pressure and coverage there.

Northern Lights Hearldy

1.5" x 2" brass

Not bad first etching. Trees look good. The start inner outline needs thickening or maybe just completely fill it in. Hmmm something to consider.

High Oasis Heraldry

1.5" x 2" brass

First pass as HO's heraldry. Well second as the first one's lettering was reversed. Oops. Silicon paper transfer is working great. Need to reposition the lettering, widen the outline in the anvil, and look more closely at the middle of it. Something looks a bit off. The points don't look like they meet in the middle.

Patina sequence is working much better now.

Dragonspine Heraldry

First pass at DS's heraldry. I messed up and forgot to reverse the image before printing and then compounded the error by not doing a test print and checking for errors. No bugs in my code! Anyway, like a good programmer I hacked it and just reversed the image. Bug closed.

Also fixed the spacing on the left one.





 Update: Second attempt. Here is the heraldry done correctly.

 FYI, this is what it looks like after etching and salt and vinegar patina with sun exposure.

Alliance Company Plaques

After the sun exposure.

Cleaned up. Hard to see but this is a deep etch.

!

This set of three turned out great.

1.5" after etching, Presun exposure.

10 Min of sun. Blue is not so apparent in regular light.

Sanded and polished. The lines get muddled at this scale. Will need to adjust image for this size or small.

1.5" and 2" side by side comparison.

Mothers Necklace Charms

These are some small charms I etched for a mothers necklace for Rachel. Next time I may just buy the blank rounds from Hobby Lobby instead of cutting and grinding them myself. Time vs money. Can't continue on this project until whitney punch procured!

Three little griffins

Used the silicon side of label paper. Provides a really excellent way to transfer the resist/mask.

These were left in the etchant extra long due to kids soccer practice interruption. 2 hrs total time. I think the dept is really keen. Photo taken with a single coat of vinegar + salt patina.

Super Secret Project X

Armour Of Akhilleus and Griffin

 These two where done printed on back of label paper. It cleared off much better than regular paper. I'm going to try the shiny side this week see if I can get no paper stick with it.

Also tried photo paper. No good with the first try. Maybe the heat was too high as it melted to the plate, but I used the same heat as with normal paper and that seems to be the minimum to melt the ink so I don't think the photo paper is going to work. Need to google it's use before I try it again.

Some mistakes in the images I need to fix. Helm

, Thetis's face, and foot.

Griffin needs some tweaks too. Make the outline a bit thinker as it is very think and prone to rubbing off. Add negative space near ear.

These etched for 45 min. I think the etch is better looking than a 30 min etch.

Here are links to the pottery pieces these were based on. Thetis Griffin

Verdigris Party

 Vinegar and light salt patina. No heat. A little sun exposure.

 Very pleased with the patina.