Ferric Chloride

[Scott Gravenhorst]

On Wed, 11 Mar 98 12:35:15 -0600, "R.G. Keen" <keen at austin.ibm.com>
wrote:

>
>>...  Since aluminum is also more
>>reactive than iron, it should work on that metal too, though I don't
>>know if the rate of replacement is similar or not.
>
>Oh, boy, does aluminum have a high rate of replacement!!!
>
>I discovered this by making the mistake of trying to etch a circuit
>board in an aluminum pan. Bad Mistake (the caps are not accidental).
>This reaction goes fast enough to boil the FeCl - not to mention eating 
>completely through the pan and spilling nasty etchant all over.
>
>I was young, then...


Hmmm.  It would appear then that one could etch aluminum front panels,
but that one should be careful when doing it.  Test the method on
scrap and understand the timing involved.  I make a guess that a
weaker (diluted with water) solution would react more slowly.  It is a
fact that heat accelerates the reaction, so chilling the solution
prior to use would slow it.

-- Scott Gravenhorst