Hello all!

I'm trying this brass photo etching for the first time and have had poor results so far. I'm looking for any tips on what I may be doing wrong. I followed the article in RM to the letter but am having difficulty getting the emulsion to come off under tap water. I have been brushing for at lest 30 min and the stuff still won't come off. Maybe I applied the emulsion too thick on the brass? I am using Diaza emulsion. Is it supposed to be a darker green color? And where the ink from the transparancy touches the emulsion, my emulsion looks like a light green color. It is normal?

The only thing I can think of is that I may need to expose to the sun for longer than 10 minutes. Any help appreciated!

John

brass rods eh.... what sort is it casting of saltwater gonna be too heavy for fly

The color of he emulsion will be darker/lighter depending on where the light has exposed it. Don't worry about the difference in coloration - it's normal.

If you'll take the brass plate and set it under the tap and leave it there, with the water running for a bit, it will tend to make removing the emulsion easier.. I've also used a sponge to scour it and that seems to work even better than a brush. However, you have to be careful not to upset or damage that part of the emulsion that you do not want to come off.

This is a very rewarding technique and you can do some wonderful things with it, but you'll have to make a few before you really get the hang of it.

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My first attempt was the pits! The brass stock I used wasn't thick enough and the etching solution ate all the way through the stock!!! Next time I went one size thicker and didn't leave the stock in the solution quite as long. It's a fine line between getting good depth and not going too deep.

After 3 or 4 tries I feel that I've gotten pretty good at it. I use the brass etchings on my rod tubes. I'm going to try to do some etching directly on the caps next.

Thanks for the comments guys! I'm gonna try it again tommorow and leave it exposed MUCH longer and see if that helps. The logo's that I'm making are pretty small (3/4") so that may be the problem as well.

John