My Latest Etching Adventure!

My latest etching adventure started by seeing Deborah Read's Etsy shop, https://www.etsy.com/shop/DeborahRead, and reading her blog at http://deborahreadcom.blogspot.com -- a never-ending wealth of information! If you are interested in etching or fusing glass, then you've got to read and subscribe to her blog. I've bought a couple of the Zentangle stamps she offers in her Etsy shop and they were used in my recent etchings.

Here are some copper pieces I cut out and stamped using a StazOn ink pad. They will eventually become bracelet cuffs.

In the next photo, I have drawn a finishing edge around each piece using a Staedtler Permanent pen. I like this edge. Both the pen and StazOn ink pad are great resists. I have used clear packing tape on the back of each piece to keep the metal from etching.

I hang each copper piece with the stamped side down, and keep it from touching the bottom of the dish with more packing tape pieces which are attached to the edge of my glass dish. Each piece needs to be "floating" so the etching solution can get to the stamped side. I think using the tape is the hardest part of the whole process as it is so sticky. So frustrating when pieces of tape stick together. Did you hear me screaming?! After each piece is attached and doesn't touch the bottom, I pour in the etching solution. My square Pyrex dish is just the right size for the quart of etching solution. This solution is ferric chloride and readily available at Radio Shack.

I let the pieces etch for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. With rubber gloves on I carefully poured the solution from the pan back into the ferric chloride bottle using a funnel. Then removed each piece, tore off the tape. I added water and baking soda to the dish for a neutralizing bath. This stops the etching action. Then placed the pieces into the water/baking soda solution. Below are the etched pieces. I scrubbed them with Copper Brite cleanser using a brass brush.

I also did two larger sheets using the StazOn ink pad and etched them the same way. I'll cut some pieces out to use as pendants later. For some reason the piece on the right didn't seem to etch as well as the left one. Maybe too close to the bottom of the dish? I don't know.

My next step is to decide how to finish these pieces. Liver of sulfur, colored patinas? I'll show you what I do in my next post.