The Etching Process

The copper plate, grounded and scribed in earlier posts, has been etched in a Ferric Chloride and Citric Acid solution, called Edinburgh Etch, in a series of seven steps totaling one hour and forty minutes. The etching solution is a corrosive salt that eats into the copper that is exposed in the scribed lines. The entire plate is etched in the first step and then the lines desired to be the lightest are stopped out, or painted over with a lacquer-type solution. At each step some of the lines are stopped out with the result being a series of line darkness from dark bold to light, giving the illusion of depth in the scene. The lines that are etched the longest are eaten deeper into the plate and, as a result, will hold more ink and print bolder.

The Etched and Cleaned Plate is Inspected

Once the etching is considered complete, the stop-out solution is removed with alcohol, the hard ground is removed with paint thinner, the plate is cleaned and inspected. Additional work can be done on the plate by repeating the entire process of grounding, scribing and etching, or by several other means. I will talk about a few of those processes in future posts.

Some of the time I feel like an Artist,

some of the time I am a Chemist stirring up the corrosive salts,

and at times I am a journeyman printer or a coppersmith.

There's part of my day I spend as a journalist...

But throughout it all,

there is the creation of thoughts on paper for all to see.

Stephen M. Perry