Acid etching is when you create a design on metal and then using a strong acid like ferric nitrate or ferric chloride to eat away specific areas. I use it for decorative reasons. Some people use nitric acid too but that is very corrosive.
Process:
Step 1: Prepare your metal to make sure there are no oils on there and make sure its clean.
Step 2: Add a resist to your metal. Some examples are nail polish and shellac.
Step 3: Now it’s time to design on your metal. A lot of times people use something sharp to scratch the design onto the resist on the surface of the metal so the resist is removed and it will be exposed to acids.
Step 4: immerse it into the bath and wait, making sure to stir the bath and move the liquid often to make the process go faster.
Step 5: remove and clean up.
Here is a beautiful example of acid etched designs on jewellery .
