Hello, new to forum and trying to find info on photo etching silver. Anyone know of a basic setup and plan?
Regards
Cassandra

I have some customers who etch silver with Puretch resist but don't know the details. I wish they would join the site. I found this on the net:

I am a jewelry student and I have heard that nitric acid is the best thing use for etching silver. I am familiar with using ferric chloride for copper but I would like to step it up a bit.

What concentration of nitric acid should I buy?

Should I etch in a glass container? (I use tupperware for my copper etchings)

How much baking soda should I use to neutralize it when I am finished?

Any help would be appreciated.

William Clay
Student - NY, NY, USA

September 15, 2006
I have done some silver etching. It's very different than ferric chloride and a very big step "up". But, the results are very nice and you can get just as clean an etch in the silver as you can with the ferric chloride.

The nitric acid is 1 part to 3 parts water .... remember: add acid to water. I am told (we used premix in the class) that if you add the nitric to the water too fast, an explosion is possible. Wear goggles and all your other protective gear if you choose to make your own solution and do it under a hood. Unlike ferric chloride, nitric acid is nasty stuff. Premix is available at Rio - and there is a hazmat charge for shipping.

We used a 12-volt battery and titanium wire in a glass dish. Attach a titanium wire to a sheet of titanium (about 22 or 24 ga) that is about the size of your piece and the other end to the positive terminal. Curl the other wire a bit so that you can put your silver piece on top of it. Attach the other end of the wire to the negative battery terminal.

Submerge the titanium sheet and the wire coil in the nitric acid (glass dish). Place your silver piece on the coil. Bubbles form on top of your piece as the etching takes place. They interfere with the etching and must be gently brushed away. We used cheap artist's brushes with no metal (do not use any metals in this solution other than the titanium). When the nitric melted the bristles too much we changed to a new brush. If I remember right, fresh solution gave us a good etch in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Good luck with your etching.

Cheryl B
- Shrewsbury, MA, USA