# Side project: Photoetching/Electroetching Silver



## rolynd (Jun 13, 2015)

Dont know if this subject is better placed in another forum since its not about refining in specific. Got a little sidetracked and just used the process of the silver cell to electroetch some silver . Instead of trying to dissolve the anode as fast as possible and making silver crystals I applied a mask and ended up with a nice piece of etched silver. Its just a fun project. The dissolved silver could of cause be recovered just like in a normal silver cell. But with these minimal amonts I did not bother. If so please feel free to move it.


An appropriate mask was made on a piece of scrap Sterling with a photopolymer film as resist, looks like this before etching.





The piece was taped up and as cathode i used a SS strip., minimal setup, just a small glass jar. Instead of going through the additional step of making a silvernitrate solution I just used a freshly prepared 3% HNO3 as electrolyte - so initially NO silver is in solution.









After a few minutes silver was deposited on the cathode, I did not stir the solution, you can see there is a blueish layer in the bottom (copper, since I used Sterling) and the effect of the copper content on the formation of denser crystals can be seen . 






After the etch was deemed to be deep enough it was removed, rinsed and the resist removed. All in all it took about 20-25min at 3,3V , 750mA. Looks like this now:





A lil patina on the background lets pop the design a bit better.






I wasn´t satisfied with the black patina and since the design reminded me of water ,eddys and currents, I opted for a blue patina - like it much better now. The finished piece looks like this now and the spouse liked it very much and is giving me much less trouble now when doing my "silly experimenting"  Doing this was fun and a lil piece of silver has gone a long way in reducing the complaints I usually get when disappearing for hours in the workshop...






Thats it, thanks for watching!

Regards
rolynd


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## FrugalRefiner (Jun 13, 2015)

Rolynd, I love it!

Can you tell us more about the photopolymer film you used? I used a spray on photo resist many years ago, but it was a messy process.

Dave


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## MGH (Jun 13, 2015)

Very cool. Nice job!


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## rolynd (Jun 13, 2015)

In the sample shown I use a photopolymer film from http://www.capefearpress.com. its called "puretch" After an initial familiarization period I find it easier and less messy to apply than the liquid stuff. Its easiest on flat surfaces , for strongly curved surface the liquid stuff is still a bit easier to apply. There are other products like this which will work as good, usually films like these are used for PCB manufacture. Many listings on ebay for this stuff. You dont have to use exactly this process, using wax, asphaltum or nail polish as a resist will also work fine as does the toner-transfer technique but the photopolymer film gives me the highest rate of success so far- and no way I could have drawn a design this fine with laquer by hand... 

from the capefearpress website:
https://youtu.be/xkGt9nFER1s


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## FrugalRefiner (Jun 13, 2015)

Thanks for the information Rolynd. 

You've planted a seed of an idea in my mind. Just what I needed, another project! :roll: 

Dave


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## Smack (Jun 13, 2015)

Very cool


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