[Jewelry making - Article 00386] - [Orchid] Ferric nitrate mordant for silver

[Kay Ivanovic]

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    Gail Nelson's article on "The Edinburg Etch", a method for improving
    ferric chlodide as an etchant for copper and brass in the most recent
    "Tips from the Jeweller's Bench" 

    http://www.ganoksin.com/borisat/nenam/safe-etching.htm 

    makes me wonder if anyone could speculate on how to achieve similar
    improvements with ferric nitrate when etching silver? I have been
    using it for years, often with much frustration as there is a lot of
    cleaning up to do on background areas which develop a horrible crust
    and has to be stoned off. The crust is slightly spongy when wet and
    if you press a blunt point on the surface it seems to give a little
    and you can see the solution being squeezed away actually under the
    surface. These are silversmithing scale pieces, so I mean a LOT of
    stoning. I etch in a number of layers, painting each one successively
    with a homemade pitch resist and the deeper the etch, the bigger the
    build-up of crust on the uncovered areas. I now stone it between each
    layer instead of waiting til the end of the job. It would be
    fantastic if someone with chemistry know-how could suggest a possible
    way to dissolve this surface crystalline sediment and give some of
    the improvements afforded by using "The Edinburg Etch" on other
    metals. 

    Some of the things I've done in trying to isolate where the problem
    lies are: to mix the ferric nitrate crystals with purified or
    distilled water;  keep the solution out of the sun; and at someone's
    suggestion tried soaking the finished piece in an ammonia solution
    which was supposed to dissolve the adhering crust but none of  these
    made any difference. You are probably wondering how I could persist 
    in such ignorance but I just keep hoping it might be okay next time!
    Any brainstorms about where the problem may lie? 

Many thanks, Kay

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