[Sca-cooks] On Acid etching

[Susan Fox-Davis]

> Stefan asks:
> Was vinegar the only acid solution they had available and used? I'd certainly
> like to
> have a good article on these subjects for the Florilegium. And/or it might
> make
> a nice arts & science project.

Well vinegar certainly was easily available and it worked.  At Caid Sciences
Day, a blacksmith friend toddled over and borrowed a cup of rather mild apple
cider vinegar.  The resultant acid-etching really brought out the design of the
pattern-welded ingot he was working on.  Wow!

I suppose you could get hydrocloric and uric acids from your own body, but it's
a helluva way to go.  Uncomfortable and/or stinky to say the least.

Selene Colfox