I recently had a virtual
conversation with Staci Louise Smith about etching. She is going to describe her project in a
later post—it’s amazing and beautiful and you all will love it.
In the course of the conversation
I decided to do a tutorial on etching aluminum.
There are many ways to etch brass, copper and silver, but few options
when etching aluminum. I will be showing
how to etch with ferric chloride.
YES, ferric chloride is a caustic
material that has to be disposed of in a VERY RESPONSIBLE MANNER, and yes,
there are “green” etch recipes all over the web, but many do not work with
aluminum. I do have the recipe for a
green etchant that works with aluminum, but haven’t tried it yet because I haven’t
found a source for some of the ingredients.
When I do, I’ll be sure to post it.
This tutorial will discuss the proper handling and disposal of ferric
chloride, which easily etches copper, brass and aluminum beautifully.
Etching has been around
forever. Ferric chloride historically
has been used in the computer and electronics world to etch copper mother
boards, among its many uses. Use the Google Machine and you will find loads of
videos and tutorials on how to etch copper and brass with it.
Aluminum is a whole other ball
game. If you were/are into crazy science
experiments, you will love etching aluminum.
It’s FAST (less than two minutes usually) and a bit scary (can you say
CHEMICAL REACTION?), and the results are pretty great.
Aluminum will not patina
conventionally like other metals. By its
very nature it will not rust, tarnish or discolor. Coloring this material is
difficult using conventional methods and requires effort to keep the color you
achieve if you use inks, dye patinas, etc.
Ferric chloride will permanently color and etch aluminum in a dreamy,
monochromatic way. Let’s give it a go,
shall we????
First, the scary disclaimers and
safety stuff:
1. WORK IN A VENTILATED AREA, LIKE OUTDOORS. For real.
Do not use ferric chloride in a room without TONS of ventilation because,
HYDROGEN GAS. Hydrogen gas is NOT TOXIC,
and a small amount is produced when you etch aluminum with ferric chloride and
it is pretty startling the first few times you do this. EXCITED YET?
I etch in my garage with the doors wide open.
2 Use
rubber gloves (I use surgical gloves which you can get at any pharmacy) because
you will be handling the ferric chloride coated metal more than you would
etching copper or brass. Ferric chloride
won’t burn you on contact or anything like that, but it isn't the best thing to have on your skin for prolonged periods and it does stain EVERYTHING (clothes, counter-tops, concrete, you name it) so bear that in mind.
3. Wear
a mask if you have one, just to be extra safe. You can find bulk, inexpensive disposable painter’s masks at any hardware store.
4. Wear
safety glasses. YOU DO NOT WANT FERRIC
CHLORIDE IN YOUR EYES!!!
5. Spent
and neutralized ferric chloride must be stored properly and disposed of at a
recycling center in the same manner spent oil from your car is recycled. I keep a few empty plastic jugs in my garage,
fill them with spent FC using a plastic funnel, and then take them to my local
recycling center when full. FC must be kept
in plastic containers!
 |
| My FC storage jug. |
What you’ll need:
Aluminum bracelet blanks. I get mine from Gotta Get A Deal on Etsy.
Ferric chloride. I get mine from Allied Electronics, but you
can also find it at places like Radio Shack or other electronic supply stores. (Note:
When you get it, take a few minutes to read the information that comes with
it. Familiarize yourself with this
liquid as much as you can prior to use.)
Three empty plastic containers
with lids large enough for your blank to sit in.
Packing tape
Sharpie marker and/or Staze On
Ink (Michaels Crafts)
Rubber stamps of your choice (Michaels)
Sanding sponges and polishing cloths
Newspaper
Baking soda
Old towel or washcloth
Here we go! Cover your work space with newspaper. It is nice to have a sink nearby just for
easy access to water. When I etch with
aluminum I set up right next to my shop sink in the garage. The sink itself is heavy plastic and meant
for grungy work. Fill one plastic
container with fresh water, one with enough FC to cover your bracelet blank,
and leave one empty. You don’t need to
fill the container with FC, just a couple inches in the bottom so that you can
immerse the aluminum easily. Set them up
in a row--FC, plain water, then the empty container.
 |
| I have found that these Band Aid plastic containers are perfect for etching cuffs! Left to right, FC, water, and empty container. Baking soda ready to go! |
Clean your bracelet blank using a
sanding sponge or fine steel wool. Stamp or draw a pattern with Staze On ink or
a Sharpie, let dry completely. Cover the
back of the bracelet blank with packing tape, leaving a long tail on either
end. Fold over a bit of tape on either
end to act as “handles” so you can easily dip and lift the bracelet blank in
and out of the FC. Be sure the tape is
flat and covers the back of the blank completely. Use a pen or chopstick to burnish the tape to
the back. You do not want any FC getting
under the blank!
Put on your rubber gloves. Hold
the tape by either end and immerse the blank, stamped side UP, into the FC, covering
completely. Immediately lift it out of
the FC, holding it over the container.
LET THE FIZZING BEGIN!!! FC
reacts instantly with aluminum. The fizz
is the production and release of harmless but kind of scary hydrogen gas. You will smell it and the metal will actually
get warm. I count to between 20-25 seconds in my head.. Basically I wait until the surface of the
metal begins to really fizz and the metal gets warm. Immerse the aluminum in
the container of clean water. Lift out
immediately, and immerse in the FC again, lifting out right away. FIZZZZZZZ, count to 20 or o, then dunk in the
clean water container. I do this three
or four times depending on the thickness of the aluminum, which will turn BLACK
at this point. Run your gloved finger
over the design, you will feel it when it is etched enough. FC will LITERALLY DISSOLVE ALUMINUM. I learned this the hard way the first time I
etched aluminum. I left the blank in the
FC like you would copper or brass (around 20 MINUTES) because I was too
impatient to actually READ ABOUT THE PROCESS.
When I came back I pulled up the tape and THERE WAS NOTHING THERE. Just a foamy pile of goo on the surface of
the FC. SMH. Stupid.
Here are a couple videos of the process. In the first video you will see that I dipped the blank a couple times in the FC to get the FIZZ started. I was using fresh FC and it took a few seconds to "bite" the metal and begin the process.
Anyway, at this point you will
say to yourself, “What have I done?” because the aluminum will be a dull, deep
black and look ruined. FEAR NOT! Place it in the empty plastic container and
dump some baking soda on it to completely neutralize the FC. Some fizzing will occur. Rinse it in the sink under running
water. You have neutralized the FC on
the metal with the baking soda, so it is now harmless and can go down the drain as you rinse. I keep
a bristle scrub brush in my sink and use it to scrub the surface of the metal,
the black will go away as you scrub. You
can also use a soft wet/dry sanding sponge here. You want all the black to be gone, and the etched surface to begin to shine. Rinse well, remove and discard the packing
tape. You can also take your gloves off now.
Now for the REVEAL. Dry the metal. Using a very fine grit sanding sponge, clean
the surface of the blank. The black is
gone, and your stamped pattern will shine up beautifully. Anywhere the etchant
touched will now be a matte misty grey. Once
you have revealed the etched pattern, you can then polish with a polishing
cloth. Bend the cuff using your handy
dandy bracelet bender or a bracelet mandrel and you are DONE!!! I use a steel bracelet bender from Gotta Get A Deal in my vise. Bends a cuff into the perfect oval shape in SECONDS.
I love this thing.
Cool!!! As you can see, I chose a wheat pattern stamp for this cuff. TIP: I went over the stamped image with a fine line Sharpie, filling in any areas I wanted darker, or that I missed when I stamped the blank.
 |
| Voila! |
Now, you do not have to dispose of all of your FC
every time you use it. The container holding just FC can be closed and saved to use again and again. It is good for
multiple etchings. You will know when it
is spent when it takes longer and longer to actually etch. At that point I dump in some baking soda,then
dump the mix into a plastic jug. You do
need to neutralize and dispose the water you used to dunk the bracelet in as you
etched. Add some baking soda and pour
this into your storage/recycle jug with any other spent FC. Seal the jug and keep in the garage until
it’s full (which will take a long time unless you etch a million things a
day). When the jugs are full take to a
recycling center that also accepts things like paint, oil, etc.
Now, I promised that I would give
away the cuff that I created for this tutorial. Okay, here’s the deal. You can win this cuff by posting a comment
here about the scariest technique you mastered in your artistic journey. Did you learn how to use a torch even though
you are terrified you will burn your house down? Spend your last buck on a kiln because you
JUST HAD TO LEARN HOW TO MAKE CERAMIC BEADS?
Whatever it is, post it here and I will use some sort of computer
program to randomly pick a winner on FRIDAY, FEB 27th. Oh,
AND SHARE THIS BLOG POST, OKAY??? Thanks. And good luck. And don’t be afraid of etching, or kilns, or
torches, or anything that stands between you and your artistic dreams. Read, research, and DO IT. Now, GO MAKE SOMETHING AMAZING!
