Etching supplies for gold

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi, I’m a newcomer to the forum and very much an amateur at
making jewelry. I find that my strongest “edge” in designing
jewelry is my ability to draw realisticly, mostly animals and
birds. This makes etching interesting to me.

So I have a question, Where can I find hydrochloric acid for
etching gold? Rio doesn’t list it. None of the supply catalogs
that I’ve seen seem too. Also, is there anything other than
nitric and hydrochloric for etching gold that is safer? Source?

My thanks in advance

Susan

2

look for muriatic acid at a good hardware store tey use it for
cleaning brick. as far as i know aqua regia is theonly thing that
will etch gold,

3 
 So I have a question, Where can I find hydrochloric acid for
etching gold? Rio doesn't list it. None of the supply catalogs
that I've seen seem too.

Look in your Yellow Pages for ‘Chemical Suppliers’. They
usually have wh= at you’re looking for. If they don’t sell it they
may know who does.

Dave

4

So I have a question, Where can I find hydrochloric acid for
etching gold? Rio doesn’t list it. None of the supply catalogs
that I’ve seen seem too. Also, is there anything other than
nitric and hydrochloric for etching gold that is safer? Source?

Hydrochloric won’t etch gold, I’m afraid. You’ll need to use
aqua- regia, which is a horrible fuming mix of conc nitric and
hydrochloric acids. You say that you are an amateur: do you have
a workshop or are you working from home? I would not want
aqua-regia or any concentrated acid in my house…

Why not etch steel plates with your designs (using dilute nitric
acid) and then roll-print the design onto the gold. If you don’t
have a rolling mill or fly-press, a local technical school or
jewellery workshop might be willing to help.

As to sources, you will need to contact a specialist chemical
supplier.

Hope this is of use and not too disheartening. – Dauvit
Alexander

5

Susan,

Try your local swimming pool supplier. They sell muratic and
hydrochloric acid for pool water balancing. If no luck, Bryant
Labs sell it but shipping may be a problem (510-526-31410). If
you are near a large city (can’t tell where you live from your
"signature") look in the yellow pager under chemicals or
reagents.

John and Cynthia/MidLife Crisis Enterprises
Maiden Metals/C. T. Designs/ Bloomin’ Wax Works. etc.

PO Bx 44, Philo
CA 95466
Ph 707-895-2635 FAX 707-895-9332

The playfulness of the Universe
is reflected in the dance of the stars!

6

Dauvit-- I have nitric acid that is 74% (as stated by the Lab).
What ratio to water would I used to dilute it for etching silver
or copper? It’s been a LONG time since I did any etching. .Del

7

Dauvit-- I have nitric acid that is 74% (as stated by the Lab).
What ratio to water would I used to dilute it for etching silver
or copper? It’s been a LONG time since I did any etching. .Del

It depends on what you are wanting to do. A good bet is to mix it
to between 12 and 15% for a slow and accurate etch with minimal
underbite, but you can mix it up to 25% for a faster, less accurate
etch.

To calculate the desired strength, work out the volume you need to
produce (say 100ml) and the strength you require (say 12ml): in
this 100ml, there needs to be 12% pure acid, or 12ml. How much 74%
acid gives 12ml of pure acid? Divide 12 by 0.74 and you get 16.21.
OK. Therefore you need to use 16.21ml of 74% acid in (100-16.21)
83.79ml of water to create 12% acid.

Sorry if this seems very complicated: I know how to do it, but
can’t work it out as a formula (maths was never one of my
strengths). The above works if you substitute the figures you
actually need, for example 250 ml of 18% acid.

All the best,
Yours aye,
Dauvit Alexander

8 
    To calculate the desired strength, work out the volume you
need to produce (say 100ml) and the strength you require (say
12ml): in this 100ml, there needs to be 12% pure acid, or 12ml. 
How much 74% acid gives 12ml of pure acid?  Divide 12 by 0.74 and
you get 16.21. OK. Therefore you need to use 16.21ml of 74% acid
in (100-16.21) 83.79ml of water to create 12% acid. > Sorry if this
seems very complicated: I know how to do it, but can't work it
out as a formula (maths was never one of my strengths).  The
above works if you substitute the figures you actually need, for
example 250 ml of 18% acid.

the formula is from chemistry

(C1)(V1)= (C2)(V2)

or the concentration times the volume of the first solution = the
concentration times the volume of the second solution.

Make sure you dont mix units on either side ( if you use ml on
left, use ml on right) Solve for the unknown…

hope that helps (and it was clear!)

dave