I think I’ve left it in the ferric chloride too long before taking it out. I want the rough looking spots as dark and deep as possible, but they seem to just be disintegrating instead of going deeper. Is this salvageable/ normal? Will it all work out if I move on to coffee at this point? If I’ve ruined my finish I can just sand it down and try again but tomorow is my last day to get it so I need a plan
Washing Soda will neutralize the ferric chloride and prevent it from continuing on its rampage. About $4 at Walmart.
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Any base will neutralize the acid and stop the etching. A baking soda and water wash (easier to find than washing soda), ammonia (many folks use Windex for convenience), et al.
Not much you can do about the surface pitting, other than going back to the sander.
Once it’s neutralized, you could try an instant coffee soak to darken up the bands. It’s more forgiving, harder to over-etch, and can be done after another etch like FC.
Details here:
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Went back and re surfaced as per. Went much better second time around. First time I think I left in fc for not quite 30 mins. Coffee did a seem to want to take. Going to try again today with the coffee
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ok, attempt number 3 is done with better but similar results. i think my issue is that i didn’t buff it enough on my second and third attempts before i tried to etch it, and thus got pitting instead of blackening. going to go at it with a polishing dremmel after the finest sand belt we had in the forge and ill post results
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