So many of you on Facebook have been asking about how I do this so I thought I would share in more detail here. I hope you find it useful.
I will start off by saying, for etching sterling silver I use Ferric Nitrate. You can buy this from The Science Company online usually in 500grams or more. When you get it you have to mix it with water to make the solution, probably fairly obvious I know ;o) I don’t have a solid recipe that I use but I will say I use about two cups of warm water to about 1 cup of crystals. I have a magnetic stir plate that mixes the solution for me and agitates it while I etch. You just place a magnetic pill in the solution and the magnet inside the base plate rotates, rotating the pill and mixing the solution. It is extremely handy and I believe can be purchased on Rio Grande but it wouldn’t hurt to check Craigslist or something.
Once the solution is mixed your ready to prep your piece. A lot of places tell you to use permanent marker or even wax to create designs but I find that the marker comes off very easily in the solution. Roughing up your surface a little might help with the marker but then you have etched texture (which may look cool) from the rough surface. I prefer to use some kind of sticker. It adheres really nicely to the surface and it gives me a nice clean edge when I etch. You can find stickers of all different kinds at your local craft store, or you can buy some vinyl and cut out any shapes you want. You will be super happy with the results.
Depending on the strength of your etch, if its fresh I usually leave it in for about 1 hour to start. When you take it out to check it you may have to gently wipe away some of the silver that has etched on the surface but has not fallen off. Rinse and check it once in awhile until you achieve the desired depth. When you are happy with the etch, remove the pattern and wash the piece with a soft tooth brush and dish washing liquid like Dawn. I don’t recommend that you use the tooth brush for anything other then cleaning your pieces from that point on ;o)
some quick tips:
- I use reverse tweezers to hold the piece in the solution. You can also punch a hole and hang it off the side of the container with some insulated or coated wire.
- agitating the solution helps with the etching process.
- the solution will stain your skin so be sure to wear the proper protection if you want your skin color to be normal ;o)
- make sure the piece is free and clean of any greasy finger prints because it will etch your finger prints into the metal
Well look, if I’ve missed something don’t hesitate to add comments or ask questions :o) Thanks guys! I hope this helped and happy etching!
Rose Metals Jewelry 
awesome tutorial 🙂
Danke!! I’m glad you liked it!
Thank you!!!!
Is 550 grams enough to last awhile? Ferric nitrate
Yeah I usually buy 550grams to start and I use 1/2 of it and get quite a few etches out of it. It all depends on how much you want to etch. But I would say you should be able to etch about 2 troy oz out of it if not more. When you start to notice your etching taking forever you know its time to make new or add more crystals. I would say start with 2 cups of warm water and half of the bottle of crystals. Etch a sample piece, something small. Take it out after an hour and gently wipe the silver away. If its good, take it out and rinse, if it’s not deep enough put it back in for another hour. You will start to get a feel for how long to etch. I like mine deep so I will leave it in the etch for a couple hours while I’m working on something else and I’m happy with the results. Sometimes my etches take 3-4 hours. If it gets to be 6-8 its either not strong enough or its exhausted. :o) Let me know how it goes!! Don’t hesitate to ask any questions :o)
Great tutorial, thank you! I am a bit confused on your sticker process…..is there anyway you could add some photos of what type of sticker you use, how it’s applied, what it looks like going into the solution, and how it looks finished up? Im having a hard time visualizing that….thanks! 🙂
Sure, the process I use is with a cricut. With the cricut you can buy different cartridges and cut out any shape into sticky vinyl which can then be stuck to the metal. See image. You can also use rub one but then you have to sand them off and that’s a lot of work. The vinyl sticks very nicely and peels off so easily!!
Thanks so much! That helps a lot! So it looks Ike you also covered the front side in your picture, with a solid piece of the vinyl so it wouldn’t etch at all? And then the decorative pieces on the backside. I am surprised….I would have thought that the vinyl would come off once you put it into the solution! 🙂
Yeah sometimes it comes off but that is only when I know I haven’t cleaned the surface that well. If you clean it well, and don’t have grease from your fingers on it it should stick really well. I have had cases where it feel off but I know I didn’t do as good a job as I could of. And you want to handle the vinyl as little as possible so you don’t leave grease on the sticky side also. Yes I covered the back completely so it didn’t etch :0)
That’s great info….thanks again for sharing your process and answering my questions! Really appreciate it! 🙂
Hello, is the magnetic stir plate you use also heated? Will the silver etch better if the ferric nitrate is warm/hot?
For copper etching I use Printed Circuit Board Transfer Film which, when heat onto the metal, works wonderfully. Have you tried this, and if so, did it work well?
Hi Lynn thank you! It’s funny you mentioned this because I have been using thermal paper and magazine paper with a laser printer. I am going to post another post about using a laminator for transferring the ink. Stay tuned 😊 Thank you!!
It works great because you can pretty much print any design and have it transfer to the metal. I am going to try it with silver next.
Hi, I really enjoyed your article/tutorial. Would you mind explaining more about your statement, “magnetic pill in the solution and the magnet inside the base plate rotates, rotating the pill and mixing the solution.” I checked on Rio for a magnetic pill and didn’t find anything. Thank you for your time. RJ
Hi RJ! Sure, the magnetic stir plate that I have is something scientists use in their labs. They heat and stir solutions using a pill shaped magnet and there is a magnetic plate built into the stir plate. When the disc in the stir plate spins it spins the pill shaped magnet. If this magnet is inserted into a solution and the solution is placed in the plate the magnet in the plate rotates and spins the pill magnet in the solution. You can find these on Amazon or any science website. They are expensive so the best bet might be eBay 😊 I hope that helps.
Great info! 🙂
I Wonder how to dispose The solution? Does it need to be threated like a chemical solution or is it just to poure it Down the drain? And do you recycle The ” free etched silver” thats gets in the solution?
Hi Caroline! I dispose of my chemicals during our city hazardous waste day. I have read where some people will pure kitty litter in it and through it out in the trash. You can neutralize it with baking soda but be aware that a little bit of baking soda cause a reaction and expect t to bubble and expand so just be careful. If you hazardous waste day in your town I recommend that. It’s easy, safe, and free 😊 Thanks for the comments and happy etching!! Feel free to ask anything anytime 😊🤘
If you use this process do you have in well ventilated place? Are there obvious smelly fumes?
Also do you have to agitate whilst etching or can you just stir every so often?
Have you ever used an electric controller for your etching and how does this compare to using Ferric Nitrate?
Thanks so much.
Hi Claire! Thanks for your questions! Yes I would have it in a well ventilated area for sure. It smells strong. I have tried both electric and ferric and they both work great! Both have waste that you have to be careful with you don’t want to just put them down the drain. But the electrical is probably a lot safer 😊 They both etch beautifully though. I have mine agitate constantly with a scientific stir plate. I know lots of people agitate it with a fish tank bubbler and that’s enough to circulate and agitate. I hope this helps 😊 Good luck!!
So, can I just keep strengthening the solution rather than keep disposing of it? Can i carefull add more water (evaporates somewhat) and crystals?
Yes I believe you can but you are gonna get to a point where you need to clean out the slug and silver in the bottom of the container. So you will need to filter at some point. I also think you can only replenish so many times before all the FeCl becomes depleted. Good luck!!