Velvet Etch

Amy Schleif-Mohr · Post by **Amy Schleif-Mohr** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 9:42 am

Good Morning Everyone,

I am TAing a Vitrograph workshop in about a week, in the printmaking dept. at UW-M. The guest artist has neglected to give the professor a list of materials and places to get them. So, the professor has asked me to help her find some of the stuff. I called Pilchuck the other day to ask them some questions and the person there mentioned using Velvet Etch. I have Armor Etch but the professor thought it would be good to have a couple of different kinds. I did a quick search on google and didn't really come up with anything. I was going to call Pilchuck again later today, but thought I'd throw out the question to you all just in case someone here knew. I just need a place to get this Velvet Etch.

Thanks,
Amy

Bert Weiss · Post by **Bert Weiss** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 9:46 am

Amy Schleif-Mohr wrote:Good Morning Everyone,

I am TAing a Vitrograph workshop in about a week, in the printmaking dept. at UW-M. The guest artist has neglected to give the professor a list of materials and places to get them. So, the professor has asked me to help her find some of the stuff. I called Pilchuck the other day to ask them some questions and the person there mentioned using Velvet Etch. I have Armor Etch but the professor thought it would be good to have a couple of different kinds. I did a quick search on google and didn't really come up with anything. I was going to call Pilchuck again later today, but thought I'd throw out the question to you all just in case someone here knew. I just need a place to get this Velvet Etch.

Thanks,
Amy

Amy

My understanding of the best chemical etch is the one available at HIS Glassworks.

Amy Schleif-Mohr · Post by **Amy Schleif-Mohr** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 10:22 am

Thanks Bert, I'll look into it.

Amy

Jack Bowman · Post by **Jack Bowman** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 6:03 pm

Velvet Etching Cream

McKay International
880 Pacific St
Brooklyn N.Y. 11238

My bottle may be as old as 15 years so I hope the info is accurate.

Jack

Judy Schnabel · Post by **Judy Schnabel** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 7:28 pm

I checked out the etching cream on HIS Glassworks. Has anyone used this and give a comparison to Armor Etching Cream?

It seems pricey at $35. But if it's much better than what I've been using I'd go for the pricey item.

Judy

Rebecca M. · Post by **Rebecca M.** » Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:00 pm

Jack Bowman wrote:Velvet Etching Cream

McKay International
880 Pacific St
Brooklyn N.Y. 11238

My bottle may be as old as 15 years so I hope the info is accurate.

Jack

You prompted me to go look at my bottle. I guess they moved across a river or three. I bought mine about 6 months ago.

Seppic/McKay
Frosting Products
30 Two Bridges Road
Fairfield, NJ 07004
973-882-5597

It does contain hydrofluoric acid, so proper doom and gloom should be exercised. Right out of the bottle it does about the same thing as Amour Etch in the same time frame, but the few experiments I did with the Velvet Etch on Wasser flashed glass took a loooooooong time. I mixed some of it with a little water and let it sit. I think it took 2 days. I'm unsure if Wasser flashed is baked on enamel (I think so) or glass (I don't think so) and results were disappointing. Because it sat so long in liquid the adhesive on the resist started to go and the design was little more than a ghost. I never did try the same thing without mixing with water. It seemed like it would just dry out and be ineffective. I could be wrong about that.

Peg · Post by **Peg** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 8:03 am

I use Velvet - you shouldn't dilute it 'cos it's pretty dilute already. If your glass doesn't etch in 5 minutes it's not going to - I've found some glasses that go quick and some that are not affected at all by the cream. I guess the chemical composition of different colours and glasses affect the etching ease. It certainly isn't strong enough to etch flashing off though.

Amy Schleif-Mohr · Post by **Amy Schleif-Mohr** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 10:22 am

Thanks everyone,

The students will be etching 1/4" float. They just need to be able to get a tooth on the glass so it will hold the ink. I did some expiaments yesterday with 10 minute incraments with Armour Etch, and using different size grit in a slurry. That gave me a whole different kind of tooth.

So again, thank you for all the help.
Amy

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:29 pm

Judy, it's for making a bath, not just for etching small areas. the bottle has crystals in it, and you fill it up with water to dissolve the crystals. then you have a bath to put pieces into, in a plastic dish tub, or something like that. gives a nice, matte finish.

Judy Schnabel · Post by **Judy Schnabel** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:56 pm

Kitty,

I saw the powder for mixing with water, but they also have a cream for when you don't want to do a bath.

The cream was $35 for a quart. That was what I thought was kind of pricey.

Judy

Kitty · Post by **Kitty** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 2:58 pm

well, i guess since little bottles are $3 or $4, the quart for $35 seems about right, if you need that much. i didnt see that product there before ... i guess i was just looking for the crystals. thanks for telling me.

Amy on Salt Spring · Post by **Amy on Salt Spring** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 3:06 pm

Does this mean we should call you Professor Schleif-Mohr from now on?

Jackie Beckman · Post by **Jackie Beckman** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 4:00 pm

Amy on Salt Spring wrote:Does this mean we should call you Professor Schleif-Mohr from now on?

She'd like that - I just know she would

Amy Schleif-Mohr · Post by **Amy Schleif-Mohr** » Tue Mar 02, 2004 5:43 pm

hahahahaha, NO! I don't want to teach college level, too much politics...

I'm doing the TA for purely selfish reasons. I haven't ever done vitrographs and here is an opportunity. I also really like the professor I'm dealing with. Because of her, I almost changed majors in my last semester of school. It will be fun to get back into the printing studio again. Thinking 2D for a bit will be nice.

Amy

WarmGlass.com

Velvet Etch

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