Sidearms & Scatterguns Etched my Izula II this week

[Rusty_Shackelford]

Etched the laser engraving into the steel so once the paint is gone all markings will remain. Once the paint has gotten worn to the point that it is no longer protecting the blade I'll strip the powder coat and force a patina. Sorry that I didn't think to take a before picture of the laser engraving but I wasn't planning to post this project until I came across this section of the forums. Last thing to do now is to use some cold bluing on the etch to darken it and help protect from rust

 

[hermosabeach]

Can you tell us about the laser set up?

 

[Rusty_Shackelford]

I can't tell you much since the laser engraving is done at Rowen manufacturing where they make and paint the ESEE knives. However when they do this it only goes through the paint, so once that is gone so is all the engravings, which is why I acid etched them into the steel, making them permanent. I assume it's all done on a 4 axis CNC with a laser between 355-450nm in wavelength, not sure on wattage.

 

[hermosabeach]

gotcha - What did you use to etch the steel?
muriatic, nitric or?

 

[Rusty_Shackelford]

I used muriatic to make ferric chloride or Iron(III) chloride, muriatic on it's own will just lift the paint. You can also buy ferric chloride already made fairly cheap, I just happen to have what i needed to make it (muriatic acid, iron, and hydrogen peroxide).