Brass etching

I would love to make this type of bracelet. I know the process
involves etching the metal which I have tried. I have used a stamp
with a permeant ink and ferric chloride and left the brass in the
solution in the ferric chloride over night. The end results just
etched the surface. I am looking for and end result that eats through
the metal to get a bracelet like this. Or if there is another way
this bracelet is made please let me know. Thank you.

Jazzmine Jone

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Ferric chloride should be good enough to eat through brass pretty
well. First, make sure there is no surface coating on it that also
acts as a resist. (Insert funny story about unetched brass here…)

Second, and most important, is to suspend the metal in the etchant
so that the resulting sludge falls away from the face. If you lay
your piece in ferric chloride face-up, the sludge that is left
actually begins to protect the metal, and you wind up with a wimpy
etch despite a long submersion time. I use a good-quality masking
tape to protect the back, sides and small margin on the face of the
work. Then I attach small bits of double-sided sticky foam (like
carpet tape, etc) to the corners of the work where it’s protected by
the masking tape. This allows the work to be fully submerged in the
etchant, face-down, and gravity will keep the exposed face clear of
sludge.

I have found that I can get a good etch on 20g copper or brass in
about 3 hours. The time will be shortened in a warm environment, and
if there is regular motion to the liquid etchant (time, temperature
and turbulence). One woman put her etching work in a plastic shoe box
on the dryer while her clothes were being dried. Worked really well
until her 18yo son did the laundry, didn’t pay attention to pesky
things like open container with liquid on the dryer, and managed to
make a mess everywhere. Ferric chloride will stain your nice white
appliances!

If you want to etch all the way through a cuff-thickness of metal,
you will probably need more time than overnight. IF you are good with
a saw, it would probably take less time to just pierce it out…if
you are not good with a saw, you will be by the time you are done!

hope this helps,
Kelley Dragon

My guess is its laser profiled. find this type of technology in your
area and go and talk to them for help with the dxf file of the design
and the cost of making 10 off plus. Google laser profiling.

My guess is its laser profiled. 

My guess is that it is not laser cut. Brass is routinely “chemically
milled” with either a silkscreened resist or photo resist to produce
very complex pierced designs. Look for a chemical milling or photo
etching company. It can also be done in a studio but is best done
with a spray etching setup which is a little complex but you can also
do it in vertical etch tanks with enough agitation in the ferric
chloride solution from a bubble stone and an aquarium pump. Look up
chemical milling on the web.

James Binnion
James Binnion Metal Arts