The best price I’ve found for ferric nitrate is from TRI-ESS
Sciences in California. Their phone number is 818 848-7838. The
last time I bought it (2002) it cost 51.75 for 5 pounds plus 9.95
shipping.
Linda Sigel (always on the hunt for the best prices)
Thanks Linda, I phoned Tri-ess Sciences, and have ordered the
ferric nitrate. It is now 57.75, which is still considerably less
than the lowest price I was able to find which was 80.00 for the
same amount You are right. It does pay to shop around.
Regarding PNP. Just a word of caution to anyone planning on having
their photocopies done at their local photocopy places. Make sure
they do not use the new high speed, collating machines, as they
produce a speckled copy even when set for dark. . I had some done,
and the batch of 15 was totally useless. I finally hunted down a
place that had some of the older model machines, and got nice dense
copies with them. Alma
...they produce a speckled copy even when set for dark...
I deal with this problem by retouching with a paint marker, after
the ink is on the metal. On the other hand, I’ve never found a
copier that left this unnecessary… Anyway, if you do this, use the
finest-tipped paint marker you can find, be prepared to scrape off
any that gets where you don’t want it, once it is dry–I use a
dental tool for this–and use a colored pen, not black, so you can
see just what you’ve done.
You can also use a paint marker by itself as a resist for free-hand
work. It may pit a bit, though, or come off prematurely on a deep
etch. You can get it, or any resist, to adhere better, in my
experience, by etching silver for 1-2 minutes before applying your
resist. Rinse thoroughly, pat dry, don’t touch! When it is dry,
proceed as always. Copper and brass don’t seem to need this extra
step. Good etching!
–Noel
etching touch up: from a good teacher: the RED sharpie fine point is
the best.
regards, april