[Updated 7/9/17] Simulating Damascus steel with aluminum tape

A

ahmedjaber

New Member
I'm printing Oathkeeper, a sword in Game of Thrones. My favorite trick with non-metal blades is to cover them in a layer of sanded aluminum foil tape because it's easy, quick, and there aren't many better ways to make something look like metal than giving it an actual metallic surface.

What makes Oathkeeper unique compared to the other swords I've done is that it's made of folded steel. Originally I was just going to give it a flat aluminum foil finish and call it a day, but I've been thinking: if I were to print a wavy Damascus steel pattern on thermal transfer paper (the stuff you mask PCBs with), bond it to strips of aluminum tape, then soak them in ferric chloride, it should create an etched surface with a good approximation of the look and feel of folded steel. Possible complications that come to mind include:

1) Ferric chloride will probably eat the tape's adhesive backing. Will have to test that. If it's a problem, I can try floating the tape on the etchant's surface aluminum-side-down or I can stick the tape to the blade before soaking. But the latter method raises the question of...

2) How badly will ferric chloride mess with ABS plastic?

3) I'll have to figure out the minimum soak time to produce an effect versus the maximum soak time before I get holes in my foil. I'm hoping the margin won't be too tight.

Has anyone already tried doing this? I'd love to cut the trial-and-error phase and get straight to the fun stuff.

Thanks for reading!
 
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Re: Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

Interesting. I'll be watching. Have you considered salt water etching? May eat through the aluminum a little slower?


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Re: Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

Never looked into salt water etching. My only experience with etching was a couple PCBs a while back. Still have some transfer paper and most of a bottle of etchant.
 
Re: Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

White vinegar is a slow etchant on aluminum so maybe that would work. Might take a few days though. A faster one, yet slower than electro-salt water etching would be a product called Greased Lightening. I use that to remove anodizing from aluminum but if not anodized, it starts to etch it.
 
Re: Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

Here is my own damascus experiment:

gal 02.png
 
Re: Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

20170703_005843.jpg

First test. Need to be more careful when transferring the pattern, but otherwise this is kind of great. You can feel the etching when you run your finger over the foil. I think we may be on to something here.
 
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Re: Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

Oh, and my concerns ended up not being issues at all. ABS isn't affected by etchant and the foil tape adhesive lasts longer than the foil itself. As for etching time, you only have about five seconds before you start burning holes in the foil.
 
Re: Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

20170703_020753.jpg

Test #3. Rushed through it because, as I just discovered, you can wipe etchant on the foil instead of soaking itl! I just dipped a paper towel in ferric chloride, rubbed it on the foil until the surface turned a uniform dark gray, and stopped the reaction by wiping with a paper towel soaked in baking soda/water.

Next test will be a full-length strip of foil tape on the 3D printed blade itself. That's a project for another day though.

In the meantime, first impressions suggest we've discovered an easy, scalable, sub-15-minute workflow to make prop swords look like folded steel. Woo!

Sidebar: should I write up a supply list and detailed instructions? This is the first time I actually come up with a good idea and I'm not sure what happens next :)
 
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Re: [UPDATED] Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

Those results look amazing. I can't wait to see it on a blade. I have long disliked the alum foil tape for blades, because it feelts too "shiny" and uniform. Even with some steel wool and washes, the tape always felt a bit too uncanny valley for the blades. With this, however, I think all will be overcome.
 
Re: [UPDATED] Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

20170703_130356.jpg
Good news: The technique works for full-length blades. This one is about 33".
The seam lines are gaps between printed pieces of the blade, not artifacts of the etching process.
 
Re: [UPDATED] Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

I hate those seam lines more and more every time I look at them, so I stripped off the foil tape and I'm working on getting the blade as smooth as possible.

Also, the color of that last etch was terrible. A couple passes with a Scotch Brite pad made everything nice and uniform.
 
Re: [UPDATED] Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

20170709_041812.jpg

Much better this time. Pardon the mess on the hilt, I'm working on weathering.
 
Re: [UPDATED] Untested theory to simulate Damascus steel with aluminum tape

Looks great! Can't wait to see a full step by step so I can give it a shot on a few projects
 
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