Who says you can't etch / engrave metal with the GF? I just did! Well, sort of, lol

And thank you all for the compliments! I can’t wait to see this used by more creative minds…

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I’m sure the marker can do crazy things with tape. Was the tape rolled/sqeegee’d down or just laid on and pressed down. With tape designed to peel off, extra pressure and work pre-laser might hold it in place better, especially if not agressively markering after.

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I really didn’t press it as hard as i should have…that definitely would have helped…

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Was curious about that. I’ve recently read a lot of comments about making sure to press masking tape down extra well for some things.

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That is so cool! My mom does a lot of copper jewelry and has been wondering how we can collaborate and I think she’ll be excited about this.

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Just a tip for everyone bookmarking this… Ferric Chloride is really hard to ecologically dispose of. You don’t just pour it down your drain (copper pipes, yo) and cleanup isn’t as great.

But you can make another solution out of chemicals you might already have in your home.

This instructable outlines the process of using HCl acid (pool acid) and hydrogen peroxide.

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So many idea are bouncing around my head right now.
Thanks for the awesome inspiration @nunzioc

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That’s great! Does she go on the http://www.rings-things.com site? They’ve got lots of great stuff for copper and other types of metal jewelry :slight_smile:

And I am not affiliated with them in any way; just passing that along…

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Regardless of how you etch the copper, the byproduct copper is worse for the environment than the iron. If you add citric acid to your ferric chloride (Edinburgh Etch), you will extend the usability of the solution (although not infinitely) so you would not have to dispose of it (which should be done at a hazardous waste facility) as often.

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That’s awesome, and so much cheaper!!! Thank you for that info…

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I’ve been wanting to make a brand to burn my logo into my wood work. Now instead of a 200$ to get someone else to do, a chunk of steel or copper from the metal supermarket for 5$ and some acid will do.

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Great results from your experiment! Thanks for the show.
As @jkopel mentioned, bubbles generated in the process stick to the metal and prevent even contact of the acid.
I would use an artist’s paint brush to sweep the bubbles loose to get a cleaner cut.
With the muriatic acid I highly recommend something more than passive ventilation, like the open kitchen window mentioned in the video. Hydrochloric fumes are bad JuJu.

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Not sure where she gets supplies so I’ll pass it along. The only things she buys new are chains, findings and sheet metal as far as I know. Her jewelry is primarily made of antique silverware.

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This title is such fake news that I expected to see a link to fox news somewhere. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Lol, nooo, I included “Well, sort of, lol”…

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@jkopel [quote=“PrintToLaser, post:55, topic:7769”]
Great results from your experiment! Thanks for the show.
As @jkopel mentioned, bubbles generated in the process stick to the metal and prevent even contact of the acid.
[/quote]

That is great to know, thanks, I will try that next time…there will be times you want clean lines, and times you want an artistic look…

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I suppose you could do this to brass as well, since it is a softer metal than many others.

Yes, brass definitely works just as well with this method…

Btw, I’ve had great dealings with Rose Metal Products on Amazon when buying copper sheet metal. I’m not affiliated with them in any way, but they have been great to me in the past; really accommodating, and their customer service rocked…

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Yes, you can easily etch brass with Ferric Chloride since both Copper and Zinc (the components of brass) form soluble chloride salts.

It is all about the chemistry. For instance silver is very soft, but it forms insoluble chlorides so you have to use Nitric acid (or Ferric Nitrate/Nitric acid) instead.

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