Well, my heart and soul has been dedicated to making electro-etch work as my process of choice for etching the copper plates in my What Is Art journey. After finally solving the PNP Blue technique, I was ready to move on with electro-etching and fine tuning that part of the process but my results have been just too unpredictable. Also set-up and shut down is kinda’ a hassle.

 

On a whim, I decided to try the acid etch technique as all my jewelry friends have had good success using it.  I didn’t even try to run down the “Radio Shack” PC Board solution.  I found a recipe using 1 part (volume) Muriatic Acid and 2 parts (volume) Hydrogen Peroxide and I had those materials on hand and I had a PNP Blue copper plate and....

 

<Add acid to water like you ought to!>

 

I put the solution in a tupperware container and immersed the plate for 4 hours. I jiggled the container about twice during the 4 hours.  I removed the plate and neutralized the solution with baking soda before discarding.

 

My Oh My! I got the deepest etch yet. (10 mil - .010 inch) I got perfect resolution down to the finest detail. There was absolutely no undercutting or bleeding on the edges  of the design. I dropped in another PNP Blue prepared plate and got identical results.

 

The plate was so deeply etched that I can use it to emboss copper foil and paper.  After adding a patina, I have the adornment I have been seeking.

 

So, I have finally gotten to a point of now pursuing What Is Art after a LONG circuitous path (pardon, please) with electro-etching.

 

Anybody want to make an eBay bid for my power supply? =)