Thread: Acid Etching

I have been doing some research into this and came to a few conclusions… Now I may be wrong about a few things, but here goes...

They used acid to make the etching on those old wedge razors.

They cover the blade with a thin layer of melted wax (like candle wax), when the wax cooled it harden, a sharp tool was used to “draw” the image on the face of the blade (the tool would cut through the wax to expose the metal), when the drawing was done the blade is dipped in a mixture of sulfuric and nitric acid, the acid would quickly eat away only the exposed steel, the blade was then washed to remove all traces of the acid, then the wax was wiped away and the image would remain.

Later as technology improved they used electro-etching (similar to electroplating but with a stencil)… (you see these on later hollow ground razors).

With acid etching the resulting image looks “frosted”, with electro-etching the image is blackened (like ink).

You could do the same with melted wax, however, these acids are difficult to obtain today (because they are also used to manufacture explosives), you could substitute some other acid that will eat steel or use vinegar, however, vinegar is sloooow but would blacken the image to make it more pronounced.
Then you would need a steady hand, good eyesight and a lot of patience but it is doable.

However... the research continues....