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Etching 304L

Etching 304L

Etching 304L

(OP)
What etchant would you use for 304L. Grain boundaries.

Non electrolytic are preffered.

RE: Etching 304L

electrolytic oxalic acid is still the best.
If you don't want to mess with a power supply just use a battery.

You can try two things, a more concentrated oxalic acid may be good enough. Or a dilute HCl, however this may mess the rest of the micro up too much for you.
I'll check my list when I get back to the office.

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Plymouth Tube

RE: Etching 304L

(OP)
Just so you know,

I tried Marbles and it work great.
37% HCL and 7 gr CuSO4.

Swab for 5-10sec. Rinse with water.

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try the oxalic.

RE: Etching 304L

Mighty agressive etch for 304L. Marbles reagent is used for high end nickel-base alloys. I'll stick with 10% oxalic acid, thank you.

RE: Etching 304L

A number of the more aggressive etches will give good grain boundary definition in 304. But they also tend to produce a huge number of etch related artifacts that may be easily misinterpreted as defects.

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Plymouth Tube

RE: Etching 304L

Oxalic is crude but effective, and very easy to use. Concentration is saturated, about 10%.

Sodium or potassium hydroxide also works well, at concentrations from 10 to 40%. Just beware of the impressive heat of solution that is generated when you mix it with water.

Radio Shack sells a variable voltage charger that is good enough for much electrolytic etching work. Also you don't need lab grade water - I have always used distilled water at the grocery store.

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