Greetings! Some of you have been reading my post regarding etching.
Great! There is a typo in the original post concerning the transfer
film.
The film is: 3M PP2500 Overhead Transparence Film for Photocopiers.
If there is another version that works with laser printers, this is
fine. Ink Jet printers will NOT work, as the ink is WATER SOLUBLE.
Laser toner and photocopier toner is virtually the same stuff.
For touchups or line work, use the Staedler Permanent Red Pen. This
holds up well in either ferric nitrate for silver or ferric chloride
for copper and bronze.
In my previous post, I used to tape the back of the metal and try to
suspend it, image side down in the etching solution.
I now tape the back with duct tape and then use double sided tape
with styrofoam. The styrofoam acts like little pontoons and the
metal sinks right below the surface which is perfect. If you use a
closed container, just tape a cheap aquarium pump to the top. You
don’t need airstones, or anything fancy. The aquarium pump vibrates
very nicely for long periods of time which helps speed up the etch
by keeping the solution moving.
If you have any other questions, please let me know.
Ferric Nitrate and Ferric Chloride can be obtained from Bryant Labs
in Berkeley, CA. http://www.bryantlaboratory.com/sys-tmpl/door/
Mix the ferric nitrate in warm distilled water with one cup of
ferric nitrate to two cups of water.
Hope this helps,
-k
Karen Christians
M E T A L W E R X
10 Walnut St., Woburn MA 01801
Ph. 781 937 3532, Fx. 781 937 3955
http://www.metalwerx.com/
Jewelry/Metalarts School & Cooperative Studio
Board Member for the Society of North American Goldsmiths