Electro Etcher

I didn't get much knife building done last weekend.  I spent most of my time building a new toy for me to play with in the shop.  I've often admired the look of other folks makers marks etched into their nice, shiny blades.  They always have a clear, professional look to them.  I decided that my knives could use this too, not to mention it would give my blades a little better name recognition.  So, I went to the internet in search of an electrochemical etcher that would suit my needs.  There are many good etchers out there, but all were a little more than I wanted to spend on such a machine.  My continued research led me to the website of Chris Crawford, a well-known knife maker in the custom community.  On his site I found plans to build your own etcher for much less than the cost of a commercially available model.  I downloaded the plans and the shopping list and headed to my local Radio Shack.

After a few short hours of drilling, stripping wires, and soldering, I ended up with something that very closely resembles an electro etcher.

I worked with a fellow who makes stencils for etching and came up with a design that closely resembles the mark that I have put on my woodcarving knives for years.  I really wanted to have my full name on the mark, but with a long name like mine, and a small area to mark like a folder blade, that just didn't work out.  I'll probably still continue putting my signature on the back spacer.  That way there shouldn't be any doubt as to who the maker is.

Once I received my new stencils in the mail, I put the etcher to the test on an old throwaway blade.  Here is the results.

The last photo above of the blade is a little out of focus.  The etched image is actually fairly crisp.  It does have a little frosting or ghosting around the edges, but I think that is due to the quality of the finish on this blade (only a 120 grit).  I will play around with different techniques and try to dial in the process before I try etching a finished blade.  All in all, I am quite pleased with the results and look forward to seeing a finished knife with my mark etched into the blade.

Thanks for stopping by the Robinson Edge.

-  Brandant Robinson