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Mica for acid etched glass

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

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Vitaly Naumov
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 10:01 am

Mica for acid etched glass

Post by Vitaly Naumov »

I looked through the forum and never found any kind of mica is used for the acid etched glass. We sell muscovite mica is the same, this kind of approach?
Larry White
Posts: 1213
Joined: Thu Apr 08, 2004 4:18 am

Re: Mica for acid etched glass

Post by Larry White »

EtchTexturesWeb.jpg
EtchTexturesWeb.jpg (84.25 KiB) Viewed 5386 times
Yes, the muscovite mica in flake form is what you want to use with HF acid etching.
As pictured above, the ground mica flakes are screened to various sizes to create
different textures. It is always best to screen the dust out of the flakes.

The flakes I purchased were screened as follows:
The purchased flakes were screened through 1/8" hardware cloth (screen), what
remained in the screen were saved off as the course texture.
What fell through the 1/8" screen was then screened through window screen,
what stayed in the window screen were saved off as the medium texture.
What fell through the window screen was then screen through a very fine brass
screen, what stayed in the brass screen was saved off as the fine texture.
What fell through the brass screen was saved off as powder.

All 4 grades will yield different degrees of texture.

I've used a 48-52% strength HF, diluted 2 parts acid to 3 parts water, then mixed
with the flakes to a damp consistency. Applied to the glass for no longer than 30
minutes.

Always be aware of all safety and storage requirements when using HF acid.
Larry White
That's enough for now... it's gettin' late
Town Of Machine
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