That weird salt water etching

Ah, salt water etching. A technique I use very often. Just to remind you (or introduce you to, if you've never heard of it) what it is: it's an etching technique, in which the traditional acids or mordants are replaced with salt water an weak electric current. The piece to be etched is submerged in over-saturated saline solution, and attached to positive charge. Scrap piece of metal is submerged as well, attached to negative charge. It's an electrolytic process.

Etching... see the bubbles? It's a negative terminal

 As with any etching, you need some kind of resist, and from what I read, finding one that works is trickier with this process than with traditional etching. Permanent markers, for example, are useless, as they wear off way to fast. I find nail varnish to be the best resist. Acrylic paint also works, but is more prone to coming off the etched piece. Nail varnish generally last throughout the whole process.

Lately, I've been working on bracelets. And I encountered problems I never had with this technique before. Depth of etching varied not only from piece to piece, but also within one piece alone. The texture of etched parts also varied. It's weird. And I don't get why is this happening. All pieces etched for the same amount of time, 3h. I always etch for this amount of time, as this gives (usually) a really nice, deep etch.

If I ever before had any problems, it was with too shallow etchingt, if I used solution so saturated with copper, that it wasn't as effective as before. But this is to be expected.

I, however, never had a piece that etched through. That is, until recently. I had to discard one project, because there were holes in some places. Again, the same sheet gauge, the same amount of time. Weird.

The first, slightly botched attempt at a cuff

So this was the first in the series of bracelets. Remember I was working on a wolf cuff? I didn't like the result, forgot about it for a while, and then decided to have a second go at it, with a bit different design. I would like this one if it wasn't for the wolf you see here, and another one closer to the end of the cuff.
Anyway, what I really do like about this cuff, is its texture. See here:

Texture of the first wolf cuff.

The texture of the etched parts is gorgeous. The etching is deep, texture is grainy, and just really nice. It looks like this on the whole cuff. This cuff etched for three hours, in freshly mixed saline solution.

Now, after seeing etching results, I decided to have another go, as I felt I can't sell this to anyone. So I made another wolf cuff.

The second wolf cuff, with better etched wolves

Here, I also wasn't 100% happy with the etching, but decided this one is good enough to put up for sale. I guess other people liked it better than me, as it's already sold. Anyway, I liked the image on this one, but the texture wasn't as nice. And uneven to boot. On one end it resembles the texture on the first cuff, on the other end, the etching is shallower, and the texture is... not as interesting.

Texture on the second cuff

This picture shows the texture around the middle of that cuff. You can really see the difference, but it still is somewhat similar to the first cuff. But near the end...

Texture on the second cuff, near one end

 The grain is sparser here, not to mention those... lines? grooves? I have no idea what caused this. As I mentioned, etching here is shallower, but this is not that weird, considering that it etched in already used solution. What is weird, however, is that the etching doesn't have uniform depth: it's deeper on one end than the other. It also etched for 3h.

The next cuff I made was the raven cuff.

Raven cuff

I'm awfully happy with etching on this one. However, that one is weirder that the last. It etched in fresh solution. For three hours, as is the case with all of them. And the etching is a lot shallower than on the first wolf cuff. And it also differs in depth on this one! I don't get it!
Look:

Texture on one end of raven cuff

Here, it's grainy, and of decent depth. Not as nice as on the first wolf cuff, but pretty nice. No grooves, lines, or any other weird stuff ( and yes, I know I use the word weird a lot in this post).
And the other end?

Why is this happening?!?

A lot shallower, not as grainy, but still uniform texture. If anyone have any idea as to why this may be occurring, I sure would like to know!

And that's not all. After the wolf cuff sold, I decided to make another wolf cuff, with different design of course. So I cut the strip out of the same copper sheet I used for all those bracelets, put it in solution, etched it for three hours, cleaned it... and almost had a fit. Why? Because of this:

A hole!!!

Holes! Holes in the metal! Ugh!

And not just one at that!

I didn't bother with cleaning it properly, there was no point. But, what is, again, weird here? Of course, it etched through only on one side! The other one looks like this:

The end without holes

It's etched to about the depth I was expecting, texture is bizarre, true, but overall it's what I thought I would see after removing the nail varnish. Well, that one went to a certain box, and waits there until I finally decide whether I want to try delft clay casting or not. It would be shame to waste all that copper, after all.

Oh, and I also had one more unpleasant surprise. Remember titanium pieces I'm working on? Well, I made copper parts, cut them, painted them, put them into etching... and one etched perfectly, and the other one etched through, and I had to start over. And they both were etching at the same time!
So frustrating!

As I mentioned, I have no idea why this started happening. It doesn't make much sense to me. The set up is the same. The salt I'm using is the same. The source of electricity didn't change, and nor did the voltage. It's just so weird. Anyone has any ideas?

Till the next time!
Kasia

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Commence operation cuff!

Sooo.... today I got my 0.9mm copper sheet order (and if I like making cuffs I will have to place another, bigger, one) and just had to start experimenting with making an etched cuff straightaway! And then... I couldn't find any suitable container. I etch pendants and earrings in old, ugly glass, but a cuff is obviously too big to fit in it. I have one plastic container that would be of a suitable size for etching that cuff, but right now it contains used up solution from previous etching, waiting for it to evaporate (as you can't pour it down the drain due to high copper content), or for me to finally get around to buying kitty litter (to soak it all up). I managed to find an appropriate receptacle, but all of that meant that I couldn't start until after dinner - the container in question held mushrooms ;) Anyway, after I prepared saline solution, it was time to work on the cuff itself... which led me to deeply regretting the fact that I don't have a guillotine cutter. Nor metal shears. Originally, I wanted to start working on two cuffs simultaneously, but after sawing out a blank for one, I definitely wasn't in the mood to do this all over again.

Cut out pre-cuff

Actually, I originally ordered that sheet so I could practice making rings... and then decided to make a cuff. To quote one of my favourite books: "attention span of a teabag". And I will probably leave myself a strip of that copper for those rings... if I won't forget to do that ;P Also, after the etching is done (and it's in process right now, because obviously I don't have anything better to do at 2 am than to etch a cuff... I do weird thing like that at weird times like this), I will have to anneal that strip a bit, and then smooth it out... I really couldn't be bothered to do this today (or yesterday, if you look at time and date)

Here it is after filing, smoothing out and rounding the edges. And drawing rough outlines of running wolves. Sorry for the bad picture. And yes, I did smooth and straighten it a bit, but there are still some bumps that wouldn't go away without softening the copper a bit.

I also tried nail polish as a resist for etching, and it works the best of all the media I tried up to date. I doesn't peel of, and is easy to remove after etching. But it's a bit more difficult to draw with than paint. Oh, the high tech that goes into making my etched pieces: nail polish, applied with a toothpick. And a mushroom container. 
Aaaaaand I just realised I put it into etching without adding my usual swirls... or scrolls... or spirals... ugh!!! Oh, well.

And here it is, etching

I really couldn't figure out how to attach the cuff to the wire at first. But then I thought about etching done the traditional way, and how, in just about every tutorial I saw, people suspend their projects with sticky tape, and decided to try something similar : I'm not sure, though, if the tape is fully in contact with the copper in the critical spot: that is, the one without nail polish on it. I did paint most of the back, but I wasn't sure if nail polish would, or wouldn't, stop the current, so I left small area uncovered. I sure do hope that there's no etching going on in that spot, but that will remain to be seen. It's been etching for 2h now, so I will stop the process, check how does it look, and think whether or not I would like to add scrolls ( they would be quite faint, if I etch them for just an hour). It should be finished tomorrow (or today, only much later ;) and I should have pictures of the finished piece by Friday ( that is, if I finish necklace and earrings I'm working on by then ). And now I'm going to bed. Finally ;)

So, have a great week, and till the next time :)

Kasia

Branding, finding your own style, and salt water etching

I've spent the last 2 months seriously researching marketing, branding and the like.  Up to this point I wasn't really doing much to promote my shop, nor was I really treating it like you would treat a business. But, when I reopened my shop last November, I decided that I really need to get myself together and start seriously working on the shop if I want anything to come of it.

One thing I always had problem with was defining my brand (and style). I still probably wouldn't be able to do this verbally if someone asked me to describe it, but after all that research, I have at least some visual idea as to what makes up my so-called "brand". I have a lot of figuring out still to do, but getting idea as to what, exactly I represent visually (or what do I want to represent) definitely was a huge help: I'm much more able to focus on developing a consistent collection. Before that, I was just kind of drawing ( and then making) any design that happened to pop into my head. I still do that  (drawing, that is) but I'm becoming more selective as to what I will put on sale. And I can't stress enough just how helpful that change was: I have some 24 designs drawn, and ready to be made (3 of those are actually already made, photographed, and in store, but more about it later :)

I decided that, for now, I want to focus on developing two separate lines, quite different, but each one cohesive, and there will be some overlapping, re-occurring motifs (because, well, both will be made by me ;P)

What really helped me with this, was a very simple exercise I came by on pinterest ( once I find it I will add the original source here).

somewhat visual representation of the light bulb moment I'm mentioning later on.

 It's ridiculously straightforward idea, and quite obvious once you read it. My first thought was: "why the hell didn't I think about this?!? " The idea is to write your name on a piece of paper, and then start adding to it things that define you. Anything that comes to mind when you think about yourself:interests, personality traits, favourite colours, and so on. Actually, it wasn't that exercise itself that brought my light bulb moment, but it was the exercise that led to it, because it put my mind on the right track (hope that makes sense ;P): I started out with that name-and-defining-charcteristics thing, and after I ran out of ideas, I started to look at all the designs I drew, and found reoccurring themes in many of them: moons, ravens, wolves, trees (if rather skeletal ones) and... how should I call them? Curvacious ornamental elements? I have no idea how do you call doodles like that in English (which, I suspect, is kind of evident from that description). But they are present on the three pieces I mentioned above, so you will be able to see what I mean ;P

I already knew that material I really want to work with is metal, so choosing medium and techniques wasn't difficult. Which brings us nicely to the salt water etching part of that post.

I always liked the look of etched jewellery, but I never got around to buying etching solution, and, quite frankly, wasn't very comfortable with using a rather strong acid at home ( I worked with strong acids before, but that was always in properly equipped lab, not home ) And then I stumbled upon a video showing salt water etching technique, and it's ridiculously easy to set up, and involves only non-iodised salt, water, metal you want to etch, a piece of scrap metal and a weak electric current. Perfect! No harmful chemicals ( though you still need to properly dispose of the copper-saturated solution, once it stopped working - you can't pour it down the drain, and the same goes for used, copper-saturated pickle, by the way. My solution is still going, though, after etching 2 pairs of earrings and two pendants) I won't be going into details here (because that post is already getting monstrously long), but check the link I provided - and make sure to check his first salt water etching video also. For my electricity source I used phone charger and two semi-insulated screwed-on alligator clips (thus eliminating need for soldering). It has lower output than recommended 9V, as it is just 5V. This may contribute to the speed with which the etching is done: it's sloooow. To get to the depth I like, I have to keep it going for three hours. But it's brilliant otherwise!

And I made those lovelies with it:

 

All three pieces (or five, if I would feel like nit-picking) are made of copper. The necklace chain is also handmade by me. And I also decided that I like photos on black background better than with white one (must have something to do with the fact that black is my favourite. And red. But mostly black) To block the areas I didn't want etched I used acrylic paint - painted on with... a toothpick. High-tech, I tell you. (Getting the paint off the pieces after etching was another matter: if I don't rub it off from still wet piece, it becomes really hard to get rid of. Like, combination of scrubbing, nail polish remover and baking soda hard )

 

 These are the first pieces of one of the lines I mentioned. The line is called The Wild Song, and the necklace and wolf earrings are Wolf Song core pieces, and raven earrings are part of Raven Song core pieces. There will be also matching necklace - I have the pendant etched already, but I need to add a bail, and make a chain (5 h for the wolf one, ugh ) And isn't the black background gorgeous? They look so... elegant with it :D Oh, and those doodles... the curvacious ornamental elements... how do you call something like that in English?

The other line I'm planning will be called Axis Mundi (world axis in Latin), which will consist of metal clay pieces, shaped like... that will be obvious to anyone with interest in ancient mythologies ( European mostly, but that's really common theme ) trees. So I can say that moon tree pendant was actually the first piece in that line. I just have to retake its pictures ;)

I hope that I will be able to work more efficiently and cohesively (and consistently )now that I somewhat know what look I'm aiming for. I just need to figure out effective marketing strategy ;)

Till the next time!
Kasia