Sunday 3 March 2013

Etching Samples

I am thinking about surface effects that I can put onto a water jet cut bowl, which I wrote about in my last blog post. I am unsure if any of these are possible without scratching in the construction process, but what's a project without a bit of problem solving...



Accidental samples are always my favourite. Nickel shouldn't be this vibrant when heated. The only thing that could have caused it is that I didn't rinse off the ammonia properly, which was used to neutralise and clean it, having been etched with ferric chloride. 





This is my double check sample. I think I'm right about the ammonia, but the nickel needs to be left to air before being rinsed.


One thing I love about ferric chloride is the streaks it leaves on the etched surface, which is brought out more when polished.




Blue steel!!!





I would love a piece that has a simple high polish but maintaining it during the riveting process would be really difficult. One thing I could try is polish the nickel sheet before it goes onto the water jet cutter, sandwiching it between 2 pieces of MDF to reduce chance of scratching and burrs, and then wrap it all in masking tape when bending the metal. 



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