Etching supplies for gold M

Jewelry Discussion
1 
 Also, is there anything other than nitric and hydrochloric for
etching gold that is safer?

G’day Susan; The only other thing you could use for etching gold
is a sodium or potassium cyanide solution - which isn’t any
‘safer’ from your viewpoint. If you did use cyanide probably
your best method would be to use it in a solution of cyanide with
the gold and a piece of stainless steel connected to a battery,
with some means of controlling the current. You would connect
the gold to the positive terminal and the stainless to the
negative, thus in effect, plating the stainless thinly with the
gold etched from the work. Sorry, don’t know of anything else
that will attack gold. Which is why it is called one of the
“noble” metals. –

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   / /    John Burgess, 
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 / //\    @John_Burgess2
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2

Question for John B, recently talking to a high tech guy he says
they use potassium iodide for etching platinum, and all gold
alloys, very controlled and precise. Comments? Charles

Brain Press
Box 1624, Ste M, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 2L7, Canada
Tel: 403-263-3955 Fax: 403-283-9053 Email: @Charles_Lewton-Brain

Metals info download web site: Learning Center - Ganoksin Jewelry Making Community
Product descriptions: http://www.ganoksin.com/kosana/brain/brain.htm

3 
    Question for John B, recently talking to a high tech guy
he says they use potassium iodide for etching platinum, and all
gold alloys, very controlled and precise. Comments? Charles

G’day Charles; I’m afraid that I have no knowledge of this at
all and have no idea how KI might react with the noble metals. I
would very much like to know a good deal more about how one might
go about it and the ‘mechanisms’ involved. I have a suspicion
that the process might possibly employ an electric current, but
as I say, don’t know. But then I don’t really know very much!
Cheers,

        /\
       / /    John Burgess, 
      / /
     / //\    @John_Burgess2
    / / \ \
   / (___) \
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