blacking fluid

does anyone here use the blacking fluid you can buy to fill in engraved lettering?

i'd like to know how it works and whether it affects other parts of your engraving plate which may be lightly scratched or marked. if it does, how do you remove it?

can it be used to fill in deep engraving on say a piece of brass? is it better than paint filling?

thanks in advance, rick.

I use Gravoxide, it does exactly that it oxidises the brass it is put on, turning it instantly black. Very easy, and just polish of the the residue and any blackening of the remaining plate with either brass polish, or a mop on your machine, with a metal polishing stick.

One word of caution! the first bottle I ever brought, came with a nice applicator sponge on a wire handle. after I had used it I put it in the bottle & the liquid desolved it! woops.

I would recommend using a cotten bud to apply it.

Lee

PS, far far easier than paint!

I use mastergraves blacking solution but only on small items i prefer to paint fill large plates as you get a better finish.

Yes I use blacking fluid all the time, it's only to be used on laquared / coated metals i.e. jewellers brass, anodised aluminium etc

One easy tip for while u wait small engravers brass signs (6" x 4" max) is to engrave through the plastic protective cover and use the gravoxide before you peel it off, this stops the acid residue from blacking the whole plate and creating more clean up work. You will find you only have to clean around the letters and hey presto a bench sign in 10 minutes. I only do this on small work and suggest enamel paint on larger signs as it gives a more proffessional finish.

does anyone here use the blacking fluid you can buy to fill in engraved lettering?

 

i'd like to know how it works and whether it affects other parts of your engraving plate which may be lightly scratched or marked. if it does, how do you remove it?

 

can it be used to fill in deep engraving on say a piece of brass? is it better than paint filling?

 

thanks in advance, rick.

Hi Rick, I personally don't like Gravoxide, It doesn't give that quality lush finish that paint does. I use celulous paint which I buy from local car spares place. I gives a real quality finish to your work.

It is really easy to do, and well worth the effort. The easy route doesn't very often produce the best results.

If I get time tomorrow I'll take some pics to show how we do it. If your interested

If I get time tomorrow I'll take some pics to show how we do it. If your interested

absolutely !

Lee

If I get time tomorrow I'll take some pics to show how we do it. If your interested

 

absolutely !

 

Lee

Well heres goes... First of all we engrave to a depth of at lease .25 on something like a 6" x 2" bench plaque.

But that could alter depending on the font or logo etc.

Then with a syringe we inject the celulous paint onto the job.

Then with a strip of latex screen, which I brought from a local craft shop,

Screen across the job making sure you infill all your text/logo, and drag as much of the excess paint clear of the job.

When the paint has had time to completley dry.. With a clean piece of lint free clothe and a large pet tag.

Wrap the pet tag tightly in the lint free clothe:

And then dampen the clothe with your celulous thinners, Do NOT soak it as the thinners will enter the text and take away the glossy finish that you want to achieve. The flat surface of the pet tag will prevent you from wiping the paint out of the text

Then carefully clean off the excess paint. No need to go at it like a bull at a gate. The excess paint comes off easily, even if you leave it till the next day.

Then leave for 10 mins or so to make sure all the thinners has evaporated.

Then polish us with the same method (pet tag) but you can use a soft yellow duster this time. But be sure to use a sharp cutter when doing the engraving, otherwise the bur on your engraving will snag and look awfull. We find that PEEK metal polish is better than Brasso, Its not so abraisive.

I think the finish is so much better than gravoxide.

Hope this helps anyone who hasn't done this before

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A masterclass there from Uk900.

Thats exactly how we do it at Charles Birch too.

Although, just for my two pennorth worth, its worth using a mixture of cellulose thinner and methylated spirit to clean off the paint. Then if you do happen to have trouble dragging out the paint, this usually cures it, as its a bit less aggressive

Great technique, Uk900.

Thats a TOP class post there UK900, The Forum (me ) applauds you.

=D>

Thats a top tip, the pet tag in a rag idea.

Lee

Nice bit of engraving there boyo.

I used to use old plastic credit cards to spread the paint. also sent off for sample plastic business cards out of Exchange & Mart mag, got hundreds of samples free

Good tip from hocumgday about leaving the protective film on, does it work, I've never tried it?

You can buy some tape called tik-a-tape (think thats how you spell it?)

which is much better than leaving the protective cover on. It is Ideal for engraving a brass plaque with a nose cone. It stops the cone from leaving a ghosting effect around your text.

Tik-a-tape doesn't melt like the protective covering that comes with your brass.

You only need to use a nose cone on brass plaques if your machine is not exactly flat..... Like on all is200's

As it is almost imposible to tighten any vice, and for it to stay exactly paralell with the head of the machine

Yeh I remember now, that tape was gust coming about as I gave work up.

I used it for a while when I did hand engraving, good product, I used to get mine from a Tool shop before it became widely available, cant remember what it was called though (brain cells gone) tried many tapes until I got that type.

nice post uk, more or less the same as i do my own, one exception being the use of the pet disc, an absolutely cracking idea which i will now adopt

very good post mate, do you thin your paint or just use it as it comes, I have tried it both ways and find unthinned is better.

I also will adopt the pet disc method of cleaning rather than me index finger and i use meths to clean excess of rather than the thinners which i find too aggresive

unthinned I use, sometimes add a little thinners if the paint gets a little thick,, Meths is no good with the paint I use... If your carefull thinners is fine I find.

Nice bit of engraving there boyo.

 

I used to use old plastic credit cards to spread the paint. also sent off for sample plastic business cards out of Exchange & Mart mag, got hundreds of samples free

 

Good tip from hocumgday about leaving the protective film on, does it work, I've never tried it?

Trouble is with plastic credit cards is, they tend to scratch the brass..

The proper stuff is cheap enough & is surface friendly

Tryed to do that and it looked dead easy on the tutorial , theres no substitute for experience, great work UK

If I get time tomorrow I'll take some pics to show how we do it. If your interested

absolutely !

Lee

 

Hope this helps anyone who hasn't done this before

Its been nearly 3 years since you kicked of our tutorials page with this photo set Planet & finally today I had a job that needed the durability of painting!

Having never actually done any infiling with enamel before I found this tutorial invaluable! coupled with a quick question to Dean in the chat room as I was doing it, the first attempt results where more than adequate!

the pet tag twisted in a rag was excellent!

So 3 years after you wrote this, its magic is still working & I have improved my standards to another level.

Thank you.

Lee