Do you have to use boiling water to etch Damascus? Why wouldn’t warm water work? Perhaps just a longer process. I appreciate any help with these questions. Thank you,
Richard

Browning damascus barrels does not use boiling water, that will convert the brown oxide to black. Etching damascus is done with a reduced Ferric Chloride solution. I hope that helps,
Steve

Black Damascus was the original on LC Smith so I wanted to stay with it. I suppose black HAS to be boiled?
Richard

yes, to get black you will need to either boil in distilled water or use steam to convert to a black oxide.

Thanks guys. I suppose if I used steam, which is easier for me, the process will take much longer. Do you guys know anyone that’s done this?
Richard

I don't think you are you going to steam the rust to black. I am pretty sure it requires boiling. Steam is generally used for getting the item to rust faster not turn the rust to black.

I could be wrong but that seems to be your real question which is can rust be turned black with steam or does it require boiling?

I convert rust in a steam tube regularly, yes you can rust blue in a steam tube without boiling.

Thanks for the correction

Can someone clear my confusion. When etching do you replace the mixture each time after each etch, or use it repeatedly? If you dip it in a PVC tube doesn’t it eat the tube? Thanks
Richard

Use the same etching soln over and over. As long as you don't contaminate it somehow, it's still good.
It doesn't seem to eat away at pvc. The tube I have it in has been in there for years.

Maybe it goes 'bad', but I haven't experienced that yet.
Bottom pvc end cap glued into place. Top cap just sits on the top.
I use a weak soln, about 2% by my estimation. Drop the bbl in and take it right back out again and immedietly flush the stuff off under running water.
Then begin gently carding under the running water with x-fine steel wool.

Some people 'etch & card' once after 2 or more rust, boil & carding cycles that build color. Then again multiple rust, boil and carding cycles to build more color,,then one etch cycle w/carding and so on.
(The Boiling if you want Black and White as opposed to Brown & White finish)
Others, me included, etch & steelwool card after each rust, boil and carding.

Thank you for clarifying this. I really appreciate it. Along the way I may come back to this.😂
Richard

Does it possibly help to rust and card multiple times, and then doing the first boiling? Thank you.
Richard

Anyone?

I think you will be fine doing that. My only experience with it was when my former employee was browning a set of barrels and inadvertently boiled them while finishing some rust blued barrels. He was quite far along in the browning process and all the work was converted to black. Try it and let us know but I think it should work out for you.

If you sort it out and keep doing them in the future, I’ve found that ferric chloride will settle towards the bottom after a few months of inactivity, and the the distilled water you mix it with can evaporate or time. Put another way, potency of your solution can change depending on use, and that can have unexpected outcomes you likely wish to avoid. Mark a level line in your tube, and stir if it’s sat idle.

Another question. In theory, with all things being equal in the Damascus etching process, rusting, boiling, carding, etc, would leaving barrels in the acid to long create just a solid blued barrel, or would it just eat away all the pattern? Conversely, would a quick dip merely be a waist of time? I realize this is in many ways an art form with many variables, but I’d like some clarity on this issue if it’s possible. Thank you,
Richard

Leaving the barrels in the feric chloride etch too long will remove your blue and can cause pitting on the barrels as well. You are far better off to under etch than to over do it. You can always etch it again for a longer period of time.

The ferric chloride solution will remove the oxidation, which is your brown or black color, from both the iron and the steel surfaces of your Damascus barrels. But the rust is a bit more tightly bound to the iron than the steel, so the steel portions lose color first. This is what creates the contrast we seek.

It doesn't take long at all for the ferric chloride solution to do this in the concentrations commonly recommended. The dips should be short, and you need to quickly rinse to avoid uneven etching. Experience will teach you how long, and I always advise beginners to pick up a set of junk barrels to experiment with.

Many people use a vertical PVC pipe container for their etching solution,, and this can cause problems if the concentration is on the high side. That's due to the fact that the end that goes in first is also the last to come out, so that end spends more time submerged in the ferric chloride solution. I prefer to use a weaker solution for more control, and a horizontal tank to keep things even. I store it in empty gallon jugs when I'm done, so it gets mixed the next time it is poured into my etching tank.

I use a verticle tube tank with the ferric chloride etch in it.
I do the etch for each rust cycle.
Some seem to rust and card 2 or 3 cycles and then etch that combined color depth.

Try it and see what results you get.
Sometimes what works great for one person is a failure for another simply becasue of some unmentioned small variables in the process. There are so many.
I played with dunking the bbl alternately from the muzzle down to the breech down every other etch to see if that made a difference in anything. Thinking first in/last out muzzle end ech time might result in variance in color or etched surfaces.
Didn't really seem to make a difference.I use a very weal etch soln,,by my shade tree calculation probably less than 2%.

I dunk the bbl into and then back out of the etch tube just as fast as it can w/o being careless in how I handle the parts.
Then again as quickly to get the bbls under running cool water to flush off the remaining etch soln that still clings to the surface assisted by another carding this time with 0000 steel wool done right under and with the running water..
It can work that fast in loosening the oxide on the surface that you just built up.

(Coat the bores to prevent them from being etched each time,,I coat them over with plain shellac, a heavy coating applied with a swab on a cleaning rod..
It stands up to the boiling water and etch soln just fine. Even then I apply an extra coatin at around cycle 8 just for good measure.,,figuring it usually takes 15+ cycles to get a decent damascus finish. Sometimes less, sometimes more.
But the process just by it's methods of etching keeps removing part of what you've done each time, Soi the build up of color is slower than with straigh out bluing or browning.

As Keith points out it's only the difference in how tenacious the grip of the oxide coating is on the bbl that prevents it from being loosened and then removed during the etch & card process.
The oxide binds to the iron a little more than that of the steel in the twist pattern, so you (hopefully) end up with color remaining on the iron portion and then the steel part of the pattern cleared of color.

Thank you gents for the replies to this, it certainly clarifies some things. Another question. After your rusting do you card ALL of the rust off or leave some? What’s your approach to this? I’ve been leaving a small amount when boiling and it seems to work better. My LC Smith barrels were originally black and a matte grey finish. I’ve confirmed this. So getting an extremely high contrast is essentially not possible vs. black and white barrels. I’ve made great progress since beginning and I believe I’m getting close to what I want. I’ve been rusting twice prior to boiling on the last 3 iterations. It appears to be working better this way. If you guys think I should change I’d appreciate your input on that. Thanks again, Richard