For those interested - How razors were etched (in the old days).

[Smythe]

If you are as fascinated as I am of etching on the faces of vintage roars then you may find this interesting. Indeed I (as well as others) have been searching for this info for some time so I thought I would share this with you.

Today most modern razors are Laser Etched, it’s a relatively simple process with information readily available on the subject so I won’t elaborate here.

But how did they etch razors “back then”? As mentioned, it’s been alooong search in old grimy books but I finally found it… but first a bit of history.

One of the oldest techniques to place a design on steel (such as a razor) is to coat the polished surface of the steel with an acid resist such as melted wax, when the wax cooled and hardened it would be held over a candle or lamp to allow a layer of soot to darken the wax. A sharp steel graver was then used to draw the design exposing the steel beneath in bright contrast against the soot coated wax. When the artwork was finished the article would then be placed into an acid solution which would “bite” into the exposed steel. After some time the article was removed and thoroughly rinsed to remove all traces of the acid, the wax is then removed with turpentine leaving the beautiful design etched on the polished steel surface.

This process was however was time-consuming, expensive and thus reserved for more expensive goods, however, a process invented by Thomas Skinner in 1867 was a giant leap forward and made highly decorated goods of good quality available to the common man.

On a quest unrelated to etchings, I first stumbled onto this tiny article in “Guide-book to the Industrial Exhibition” By Great exhibition, 1851.
Page 156, paragraph title “Etching and Gilding on Steel”

The article opens…
“Our readers will notice the beautiful designs on some of the steel articles, razors &c, sent from Sheffield. The method of executing this etching and gilding on steel, is the invention of Mr. Thomas Skinner, of Sheffield”

The article however, doesn't explain the process in any detail.


Finally after further research, I found this article in the “Commissioner of Patents annual report” By United States Patent Office, (published 1867), page 1487… Patent #72,553 was granted to Mr. Thomas Skinner, Pittsburg, Pa. and the process described in more details. Below is a transcript and photostat of the page (C/A Google Books)

72,553. - Thomas Skinner, Pittsburg, Pa. - Method of Forming Designs upon Metals, Ivory, &c.
- December 24, 1867. - To produce ornamental figures upon steel, the design is first engraved upon a copper plate. A proof is taken upon thin paper with ink made by boiling oil to a viscid consistence and adding a little lampblack. The design is transferred to the steel plate, and the paper is removed with water, leaving the ink upon the steel. The plate is then coated with a light spirit varnish. The ink is removed by application of oil of turpentine, and dilute acid applied to act only on the parts previously covered by the ink. After removal of the acid by water the varnish is removed by benzine.

Claim. - The herein-described method of preparing the design upon the article to be operated on preparatory to the etching process by the means of transfers, substantially as set forth.



The article may also be viewed at GoogleBooks here:

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So there it is… the method of printing almost anything on articles of steel including those old Sheffield razors.

And for those of you who would like to read the complete patent document, it can be viewed on-line at Google patents by following the link below. It’s only one page, and also describes the method of “Frosted Etching”.

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Notes:
1) Since the article in the “Guide-book to the Industrial Exhibition”, was published in 1851… we may assume Mr. Skinner invented the process sometime before 1851
2) We may assume Mr. Skinner immigrated to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in the USA and applied for the patent sometime before 1867.
3) The 47 thousand dollar question is: - How do we save these etchings after years of tarnish?

 

[danjared]

Very interesting, Cedrick. I find it especially interesting that these etched blades may have mostly been exported to the U.S. and that Mr. Skinner himself came here. Thank you for the research.

 

[tat2Ralfy]

Very interesting indeed :thumbup:

The one thing that strikes me is that the old etchings were far from flat, do you think the ink prints were made as a sort of negative? with the acid etching deeper into the area's that had the thinnest layer of ink?

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[Smythe]

If you are referring to the “negative” looking frosted etch on the face of some very old razors… I suspect that was an accidental discovery by some craftsman who didn't follow the instructions completely (or didn't read it properly).

After transferring the image and removing the paper, they dipped the blade in the acid, as fate would have it, oily ink would protect the lines or lettering from the acid. When they took the blade out of the acid, washed it and removed the ink, the image would be shiny lines or lettering with a dark frosted background.

They lucky fools skipped the coat of varnish and made something better.

 

[tat2Ralfy]

No I meant that some of the etchings were quite intricate, and far from flat, almost as if they had different levels of acid burn in them?

Regards
Ralfson (Dr)

 

[Guest]

That process is called deep etching. You will find tons of information in knife forums.

 

[mysteryrazor]

I wonder if the same photo resist process used to make printed circuit boards would work. With that process the image can be made on a computer reduced in size and printed on a laser printer. If printed on paper the paper is lightly coated with mineral oil to make it transparent. The etchant for the copper is ferric chloride.

 

[Smythe]

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Not sure I understand… maybe if I see an example as most etching I have seen on razors appear to be one-layered.
But I will say this, an etch can be bitten many times to build complex work, or for different shades, or add further to the design, or make some parts in the design deeper. This is done by carefully masking the parts that were already etched before another dip in the acid.

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Indeed that can be done, but it may be simpler to transfer the fused toner from the paper to the steel, the toner is made form plastic and so will resist the acid, some folks use a hot iron to do this when making circuit boards. It’s all about swapping one substance for another that won’t be affected by chemicals in another step of the possess.

For example: in laser etching, contrary to popular belief, the laser beam does not burn the “metal” to draw the design (because such a beam that could burn metal would need to be very powerful, and the heat from the beam may draw the temper of the hardened steel). Instead, the metal is coated with a thin coat of asphalt, and a week laser is used draw the design by vaporizing some parts of the coat and exposing bare metal to form the design. The steel is then placed in the acid which bites only the exposed parts of the steel, but the remaining asphalt protects those parts of the steel.
The blade is removed from the bath, and washed with water to remove all traces of the acid, however water won’t remove the asphalt because of course it’s waterproof, the asphalt is removed with a solvent such as kerosene thus revealing the etch.

Once you understand the principle of witch chemical attacks or (does not attack) a particular type of material you can etch any design onto anything.

 

[Toff]

Thank you for the information! Your scholarship is appreciated.
Ralfy, since the paper was used as an intermediate step it could be carefully curved to fit the blade grind and then pressed against the blade; I would guess that the pressure was applied by a Gutta Percha or Latex rubber cylinder by someone with a steady hand. After the invention of photographic emulsions of silver metal halides in a gelatin base, they could coat the blade surface and use a strong point light source to harden the emulsion they wanted to stick. It is done now with KPR Kodak Photo Resist. That could account for the increasing complexity of the etching after the 1850s. They also may have used an electro-etch whereby the part was placed in a salt or mild acid solution and the design was on a positive stamp of type on a handle or rod. The rod was polarized electrically and the blade to the opposite polarity and the electrical current between the two made the deep etch. There are tool marking devices which use that process and only have salt water and a one cell flashlight/Torch battery. Those also may use a pre-cut stencil to do the design. the effect is a reverse electroplating. That is also used in electro-polishing of metals.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroetching
The folks of old were a lot more savvy than we sometimes give them credit.
Respectfully
~Richard

 

[Smythe]

Toff, haven’t seen you in a while, hope all is well.

Indeed, those old guys were cleaver; they had to work with what little tools they had and to produce some beautiful work.
Unfortunately it would appear most of our modern artists rely too much on technology, and not enough imagination.
Speaking of tool marking devices, many of our modern blade maker suggest using such a device (and I suspect many of them do)… nothing wrong with it at all I am sure it works well for most.

However if I were a blade maker, I would seriously investigate a simple Rubber Stamp.
A well designed rubber stamp can place waterproof ink on a tang ready for etching; one can also be curved to place a design on the face of a razor. Rubber Stamps can have such complex designs the Electro-Stencil machine would find difficult to match... and I suspect Rubber Stamps are cheaper.

In fact I suspect some etched vintage razors were done with Rubber Stamp technology (but I cannot prove it just yet). Though photo etching would indeed work on a razor, I suspect it may be too much of a complex task for the common laborer in a mass production environment… when on the other hand, all the worker had to do, was press the inked rubber stamp on the blade and dip in the acid solution, wash, grab the next blade and repeat.

The research continues…

 

[Toff]

Hi English and all, I have been lurking herre and checking other pastures for information and/or bull flops.

This is a long and perhaps exceedingly boring explanation of some of the possible processes used prior to etching a surface.

The rubber stamp may now be a thin ( about 2mm- 4mm )photo hardened Urethane compound or urethane with a laser removed non-printing surface.. The whole process is done with a laser and computers. There are still some that are hand carved. It would then be attached to a hard surface such as a handle or rod. A difficulty with this process is that the ink may be slippery and that could, and sometimes does, cause the stamp to slip which will give a muddy outline..
The printing surface is also usually finely textured into a micro waffle surface which better holds and transfers ink.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber_stamps

While in art school we made etchings and engravings. The "ground"/varnish or a photo reactive coating was prepared on the surface and then was processed by a chosen method which would thin the ground/varnish through to the base material/item. That was then placed into the "mordant"/acid for a period of time, which removed the object's surface in the unwanted areas ( those that had no ground on them.) After checking the plate/object, to get a deeper etch, we would "stop out" the areas we did not want deeper with asphalt varnish, dry it and then replace the plate into the mordant/etching solution. To make the textured surface on a plate, we would press a very fine silk or nylon carefully against the surface of the plate when the ground/non-etch varnish was still not set and then remove it and allow the ground to dry completely.
That allowed the mordant to attack through the thinner ground when brushed with a bristle brush, while in the mordant, which removed the thin ground and allowed the etching of a textured surface.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etching

Another method of placing a resist design on the surface of an object is screen printing which is basically a stencil process whereby the ground or the water soluble ground resist is printed onto the object. If using the ground resist, the object is then dipped into a ground solution which is allowed to set before strongly rinsing the part and to remove any remaining ground over the areas to be etched.
The advantage of screen printing is that many pieces may be rapidly processed. The screen printing process allow for curved surfaces through shaping the screen frame and squeegee.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_printing

So, the folks of yore and other and sundry places have been doing these things as far back as recorded history is known. The Babylonians had electricity from wet cell batteries. They used it for electroplating jewelery, and probabbly for etching also.
Respectfully
~Richard