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Ferric Nitrate



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 4th 05, 02:36 PM
Charlie
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Default Ferric Nitrate

I give up! I can only find this stuff from one place and they want to sell
me a kilo at a time (at £101 for the privilege)! I only need a cup or two
for now just to see how this etching silver thing works and hopefully make a
few birthday and Christmas presents!

Can anyone shed some light on a good UK supplier that will sell me just a
little and not try and rip me off?

Charlie.



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  #2  
Old April 5th 05, 02:52 AM
mbstevens
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Default

Charlie wrote:

I give up! I can only find this stuff from one place
and they want to sell
me a kilo at a time (at £101 for the privilege)! I only
need a cup or two for now just to see how this etching
silver thing works and hopefully make a few birthday and
Christmas presents!

Can anyone shed some light on a good UK supplier that



chuckle
That's just the nature of the business everywhere.

There's a place down the road from me that would be happy
to sell me some sulphuric acid -- in one of those
waist-high drums. If I want a reasonable amount for
pickling jewelry, I have to drive into town and then to
the other side. And I'll be paying a huge mark up. The
same goes for having it shipped in.

will sell me just a little and not try and rip me off?


Most pure chemicals are nasty and expensive to handle.
The suppliers of small amounts are earning their keep,
IMO.

If you can't find a small amount of ferric, I suggest the
cheaper nitric acid. Spend a fraction of the leftover
savings on safety glasses, a rubber apron, and chemical
gloves. Nitric etches very nicely, indeed, and can be
used for bright dip, to boot.
--
mbstevens http://www.mbstevens.com

  #3  
Old April 5th 05, 02:52 AM
Andy Webber
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Default

Charlie wrote:
Can anyone shed some light on a good UK supplier that will sell me just a
little and not try and rip me off?

Charlie.


I've used Silverprint near London Waterloo station for some chemicals
http://www.silverprint.co.uk/ Select "Chemicals" then "Raw Chemicals".

You may have to declare that you are using the chemicals for photo processing.

Andy

  #4  
Old April 5th 05, 02:52 AM
Ted Frater
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Default

Charlie wrote:
I give up! I can only find this stuff from one place and they want to sell
me a kilo at a time (at £101 for the privilege)! I only need a cup or two
for now just to see how this etching silver thing works and hopefully make a
few birthday and Christmas presents!

Can anyone shed some light on a good UK supplier that will sell me just a
little and not try and rip me off?

Charlie.



Ferric Nitrate, or Iron nitrate?
aldrich chemical co.
0800 71 71 81 Customer and tech services.
500gms £15.60 plus vat and p&p.

  #5  
Old April 5th 05, 02:52 AM
Carl 1 Lucky Texan
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Acquiring chemicals can be difficult. I needed a small amount of silver=20
nitrate. Ebay worked quite well for me in this regard. You may need to=20
check the listings for a few weeks though. I THINK there is now a place=20
where you can list REQUESTS for items as well. good luck!

Carl
1 Lucky Texan


Charlie wrote:
I give up! I can only find this stuff from one place and they want to =

sell
me a kilo at a time (at =A3101 for the privilege)! I only need a cup o=

r two
for now just to see how this etching silver thing works and hopefully m=

ake a
few birthday and Christmas presents!
=20
Can anyone shed some light on a good UK supplier that will sell me just=

a
little and not try and rip me off?
=20
Charlie.
=20
=20
=20


--=20
to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net)

  #6  
Old April 5th 05, 04:01 PM
Charlie
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Default

But isn't nitric acid like, mega dangerous? I thought I'd read that
somewhere. Would you just use it in exactly the same way?

Charlie.

"mbstevens" wrote in message
...
Charlie wrote:

I give up! I can only find this stuff from one place
and they want to sell
me a kilo at a time (at £101 for the privilege)! I only
need a cup or two for now just to see how this etching
silver thing works and hopefully make a few birthday and
Christmas presents!

Can anyone shed some light on a good UK supplier that



chuckle
That's just the nature of the business everywhere.

There's a place down the road from me that would be happy
to sell me some sulphuric acid -- in one of those
waist-high drums. If I want a reasonable amount for
pickling jewelry, I have to drive into town and then to
the other side. And I'll be paying a huge mark up. The
same goes for having it shipped in.

will sell me just a little and not try and rip me off?


Most pure chemicals are nasty and expensive to handle.
The suppliers of small amounts are earning their keep,
IMO.

If you can't find a small amount of ferric, I suggest the
cheaper nitric acid. Spend a fraction of the leftover
savings on safety glasses, a rubber apron, and chemical
gloves. Nitric etches very nicely, indeed, and can be
used for bright dip, to boot.
--
mbstevens http://www.mbstevens.com




  #7  
Old April 5th 05, 04:04 PM
Ted Frater
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Posts: n/a
Default

Charlie wrote:
I give up! I can only find this stuff from one place and they want to sell
me a kilo at a time (at £101 for the privilege)! I only need a cup or two
for now just to see how this etching silver thing works and hopefully make a
few birthday and Christmas presents!

Can anyone shed some light on a good UK supplier that will sell me just a
little and not try and rip me off?

Charlie.



Are you sure you want ferric nitrate?
Because its ferric chloride thats used in the printed circuit board
industry to selectively remove the copper to make the circuit tracks.
to speed this up they may well use a reverse plating current. If you
want to etch out or through metal theres lots of different ways to do this.
you need to do a lot more research before you throw money at your ideas.
hope you get on ok with this project.






  #8  
Old April 5th 05, 04:08 PM
Peter W.. Rowe,
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On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 08:04:22 -0700, in |õ Ted Frater wrote:

Are you sure you want ferric nitrate?
Because its ferric chloride thats used in the printed circuit board
industry to selectively remove the copper to make the circuit tracks.


If Charlie is wishing to etch a copper based alloy, then you're correct Ted, ferric
chloride is the right stuff. But for etching silver, and a number of other metals, then
ferric nitrate is the one. In both cases, these are safer to use salts of respectively,
hydrochloric, and nitric acids. HCl doesn't work well to etch silver, and neither will
it's salts. The salts, in addition to being safer to use (primarily in that they don't
produce the same level of nasty fumes in their concentrated forms), also offer a more
uniform etch with generally fewer problems with undercutting and lifting of resists.

Peter
  #9  
Old April 5th 05, 04:19 PM
Peter W.. Rowe,
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Default

On Tue, 05 Apr 2005 08:01:22 -0700, in ôõ "Charlie"
wrote:

But isn't nitric acid like, mega dangerous? I thought I'd read that
somewhere. Would you just use it in exactly the same way?

Charlie.


Cencentrated Nitric acid is indeed a highly corrosive material to be handled with care.
But it's not like the bottle will explode in your hands if you jiggle it. It can cause
dangerous burns to skin, and its fumes can be very bad for your lungs and eyes. But
you're not using the concentrated fuming form to etch. Etching silver or other metals
is generally done with a 5 to 10 percent solution of the acid. In that form, it's not
all that different, safety wise, than the correct concentration of ferric nitrate you'd
also be using for the same purpose. The straight acid is a bit more aggressive, and
won't give you quite as clean an etch. And you will need to pay a bit more attention to
good ventillation. When not actually puring concentrated nitric acid from it's bottle,
the bottle stays tightly closed, and needs to be stored somewhere where it will be safe
from falling over and breaking, or access by kids, or the like. And you need decent
ventillation when handling it. Also, and this is critical, NEVER pour water into any
concentrated acid. Instead, pour the acid into water. Small amounts of water in
contact with larger amounts of acid heat up very quickly, and can spatter or almost
explode as it turns to steam, and THAT's dangerous. When the acid is poured slowly into
the water, the heat generated has somewhere to be dissipated (in the greater volume of
water), and you have no problem. Wear an apron, rubber gloves, and eye protection just
to be safe. THAT APPLIES AS WELL, TO HANDLING FERRIC NITRATE. The dry chemical is not
the same danger in terms of splashes and fumes like the concentrated acid is, but it is
still a highly caustic material and can also cause burns to skin, eyes, or lungs if the
dust is inhaled. As with the dilute acid used to etch, in a modest solution, it's not
so dangerous, but again, you still need to be prudent and cautious with ANY acid capable
of etching metals, as it generally will also be able to hurt you i you're careless.
Eyes in particular are at risk, as are your lungs if you have improper ventilation.

The point is that while the concentrated acid does indeed require more care, the salt of
that acid isn't exactly table sugar either. Read up on proper lab techniques for
handling acid for either material. Both can be used safely. But both can be dangerous
if your not properly prepared or take safety just for granted.

Peter Rowe
 




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