Hi, I’ve just joined the forum but have been watching for a while.
I like playing with metal on dark nights and have recently modded a Fenix
The ED01 is a great light but I wanted to play, so took the risk of trashing it by machining as much of the casing off as I could and then adding some custom detailing. The intention was to make it look like some old gadget you see at a boot sale, but don’t know what the heck it is.
I’m happy 
and am thinking about the next one
Nice mod .
It looks really good. How long did all of that detailing take?
That is really cool. Very creative. More photos! 
Thanks,
I can’t say how long it took as the work was spread over a few weeks and I do a lot of thinking.
Here is a pic of the Fenix with the excess metal taken off and the first two caps being tried in place while I wait for more inspiration to arrive
The knife is a Swiss army soldier fitted with custom German Silver scales and brass liners, also a couple of beads and a German Silver pocket hanger
The small latch on the knife locks the main blade open via a cam against the back of the spring
Very cool.
More, please !
This is a later pic of the Fenix, It’s appearance is brighter as some of the chemically induced ageing has worn off, the knife has had a brass disk inset and some grooves put in. The bead attached to the knife is a magnetic quick release, a straight pull of 3.5lbs will detach the knife
Very nice work.
Was googling for more info on etching and found this: Etching | EDCForums
Anything to add, or is that pretty much all one needs to know?
Sweet!
That is some nice artwork!
Sorry if these comments are going away from flashlights, I’ll try to do better
I’ve just got myself a LED Lenser micro V9 and a Trustfire mini 03 to modify and will report back when something happens to them
ruffles asked;
“Anything to add, or is that pretty much all one needs to know?”
That gives a good basic idea of how to do it but obviously there is a learning curve and many tricks and techniques to be discovered along the way, together with a lot of things you will never do again. Get some scrap and try it out, steel washers old stainless knives etc are all suitable for first efforts
This is a Swiss Army knife with new scales and brass liners, I want it to age like a well used firearm so used steel scales and etched them for 5 minutes to enhance the surface pitting then put the pattern on with nail varnish, and etched again until I was happy with the depth of etch ( 24 minutes ) in a road-salt solution using a 12v 6 amp battery charger. When the metal work was done the scales were buffed with a scouring pad, then coloured and rustproofed using gun blue (selenic acid}. If the postman brings me the proper screws today I will get it finished. and then I can get started on modifying a flashlight to match it
Nail varnish is difficult to control and draw with, it’s designed to be quick drying, and by golly it is !!! The pattern was made by covering the metal with blobs of varnish using the brush supplied and then joining up the blobs by dragging the varnish with a pin. I gave the varnish a couple of hours to harden up properly as some of the blobs were quite big. Other varnishes/paints can be used as long as they are not water soluble.
The blade of this knife was covered with vinyl tape then sliced off with a scalpel to make the flame design and the scales pattern was painted using with nail varnish,brush was dabbed on paper until it was nearly dry then dragged on the metal to generate the very fine lines of the pattern. When the metal is being etched the salt-solution gets warm and this can soften the glue on sticky tape,just saying
Thats pretty orsm work. I’d say there are more than a few people here that would love a step by step thread on the how to do this. You are extremely talented with your work here. Thanks for showing us all and welcome to BLF.
Really nice work! Love the etching on the sak 
Thanks,
Google will find lots of information on etching with salt or ferric chloride and I don’t think I can really add much of importance except to say that;
It is relatively easy to do.
Ferric Chloride and salt are both salts not acids so are relatively safe to use with care. My wife is not too happy with the etched splashes on the kitchen sink or the stains on my jeans but I’ve learnt my lesson and am ultra careful now.
The materials and equipment are basic and cheap
The waste liquids must be disposed of with care, they carry dissolved metal and do not enhance drinking water, watercourses, livestock, crops etc
Your first attempts will probably not be exactly what you desire, I think I have been lucky as my disasters have been to trials and experiments not to expensive ironmongery.
I will do a photo-shoot the next time I do an etching and post it up, but will take some pics today of my set-up and equipment
If anybody want to ask specific questions then PM me and I will do my best but i must point out that i am new to etching and still on the steep part of the learning curve, though gaining confidence all the time
Thanks for the offer off pictures next time. This sounds really good. I assume that you did all the stamping in the first picture as well?
Wow thats impressive, thanks for sharing
Yes I did, but used the stamps on the bar of metal before drilling it out otherwise it would have deformed
Welcome to BLF, Boyo17! :party: Thanks for sharing your work with us! It’s really inspiring. I keep meaning to get some ferric chloride so I can try etching.
How do you dispose of yours after etching? I don’t know how to do it safely. Can you keep it to reuse or is it best to throw away after one use?
Nice work, love it!
Phenomenal stuff! Thanks for getting me involved in yet another endeavor I'm sure my old lady will be thrilled with. :|
:bigsmile: :D
I’ve only been etching for a short while so cannot give good definitive information about these things
I’m not sure about FC disposal as I’ve only ever bought half a litre and it’s still going strong after many uses. Four options I’m considering are either pouring it into my neighbour’s water tank, pouring it into his gas tank, pouring it directly down his throat or phoning up my Waste Disposal Centre and asking them what to do with it. Though the other options are attractive and give me much pleasure to think about, I will probably go the phone route. FC is used by many people so there must be a way to this safely
From what I’ve read, FC as bought is at “working strength” and is good for steel and stainless and if water is added is good for brass, copper etc There seem to be a lot of differing theories about this as I’ve also seen advice suggesting using “working strength” for copper and brass and adding water for steel and stainless. If anybody finds definitive rules then I would be very grateful for a heads up.
Until I know better I have one bottle with a label saying “working strength used” and another bottle with a label saying “diluted used” It can be used many times and the only difference appears to be the time that metal needs to be immersed. I have seen advice that the FC is depleted when it goes a green colour or the working times become too long. Mine has gone green but still works ok
I have not yet tried using FC and a DC voltage as the results I get without the volts are OK for me. Using a road-salt solution and a battery charger works so well and so quickly that I’m sticking with this method for now