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TOPIC: Acid etching

Acid etching 7 months 2 weeks ago #3274

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Hi everybody.

I'm near to order a new saber and i was thinking about decorate it with an etching, using acid or something like that.
I'm new in this hobby and i want to know if you have done this modification and how to make it.
I know that Saberforge uses the best quality materials but i don't know if are good to do this.

Sorry for my english, i'm trying to improve it.
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Acid etching 7 months 2 weeks ago #3276

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I'm pretty sure most Acid Etching is done on steel. SF sabers are made using aluminum. It is possible to do it with Aluminum, but your mileage may vary.
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Acid etching 7 months 2 weeks ago #3279

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I'ts my concern. I don't want to destroy my hilt. In addition i supose i have to remove all the electronics before do it and reinstall it later.

Do you know other methods to do that? Anybody have seen a decoration like that?
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Acid etching 7 months 2 weeks ago #3311

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Do you have any concept art or reference art for the design you want? Oh, and the piece/parts you want etched. Kinda curious.

...might be able to help.
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Acid etching 7 months 2 weeks ago #3381

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Miraluka wrote:
Do you have any concept art or reference art for the design you want? Oh, and the piece/parts you want etched. Kinda curious.

...might be able to help.

I can't show you that but i was thinking about apply a celtic or vegetal design on the upper part of a Gladius hilt and the emitter.
But i have hundred ideas about designs on different hilts.
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Metal Engraving 7 months 2 weeks ago #3393

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Well, you could always try going to a custom engraving place. There is a guy in my town that works in a winery, engraving on bottles and wine glasses and whatnot, but he's done some engraving on other stuff for me in the past and when I build my next saber I'm going to be paying him a visit. (Soon, I hope) I already spoke to him about the project.

It never hurts to find an engraving place and ask them about a project. Maybe you'll be lucky.
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Metal Engraving 7 months 2 weeks ago #3395

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I've had a quick go at saltwater etching (it sounded safer than acid etching to me, and had materials available). It works fine with Aluminium.

I don't have a saberforge saber, mine was just made from Aluminium tubing and a few other bits I had and I probably wouldn't have dared to ruin a saberforge hilt, but now that I've tried it I definitely plan to use this method again on my next home made saber.
DSCF5143 by Stew750, on Flickr

Do a google search for "saltwater etching" and you'll find a few different variations on how to do it. more specifically search for "ARKM's saltwater etching tutorial" - thats pretty much the method i used, only I used a more simple way of masking and leaving the bare metal to etch. (I covered the metal in vinyl tape and cut the pattern out).
Last Edit: 7 months 2 weeks ago by Takamatsu.
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Metal Engraving 7 months 6 days ago #4142

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When you say saltwater, I assume you are talking about electrochemical etching? If so you would definitely need to remove all electronics as you will be running a current akin to a car battery through the metal of the hilt. The nice thing about electrochemical as opposed to acid is that you do not need to fully submerge the saber to do it. If you do it with a cue-tip or use one of the the engraver kits, you can just hit the spot that has the design marked out on it.

It should work fine if you are carful. I have used it for rings and other projects, and this is the process I plan to use to etch my upcoming saber as well. Another thing to watch for with either process is not etching too deep to avoid undercutting. The exception would be if you were going to fill the etched area with enamel, in which case bait of undercutting actually helps it sty in there.
Last Edit: 7 months 6 days ago by Darth Cephalus. Reason: typo
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Acid etching 3 months 3 weeks ago #10928

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I do etching on steel and iron part with acids, on my forge, i forge damscus steel for hobby, the saber from Saberforge are made of alluminum alloy, you can try to do a sort of selective anodization for make some decorations. The process is very low aggressive on the material so, if it can be wrong you can simply buff the blade with very light sandpaper and compound takin the blade back at the original status.
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