Not my tutorial. In case this would be useful to some of you. I've built one myself and it works great.
http://www.chriscrawfordknives.com/CCK/ ... efault.asp
Pad
Buildig an etching machine
Thanks for the link Pad.
Years ago my dad showed me a trick with a 1.5 volt large lantern battery.
He took a #2 yellow pencil and cut the eraser off and exposed the graphite core.
Then he clipped one wire from the battery to the end of the pencil and the other wire to a piece of metal.
When you wrote on the metal with the now electric pencil it would make small arcs and small puffs of smoke.
It was very neat; he had me write his name on his tools with it.
I forgot which one was positive and negative.
Hal
Years ago my dad showed me a trick with a 1.5 volt large lantern battery.
He took a #2 yellow pencil and cut the eraser off and exposed the graphite core.
Then he clipped one wire from the battery to the end of the pencil and the other wire to a piece of metal.
When you wrote on the metal with the now electric pencil it would make small arcs and small puffs of smoke.
It was very neat; he had me write his name on his tools with it.
I forgot which one was positive and negative.
Hal
Happy Metal Pounding
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Padrig
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That's cool Hal. I'll have to try. I am guessing positive on the steel to be marked and negative on the pencil. But don't take my word for it. 
Some more info on the etching machine. I use water and salt as a solution. Some add vinegar too but I did not find it made a difference with carbon steel anyway. You have to experiment.
I used some kind of resist like nail polish or paint. Gotta let it dry well though or the current gets through and you get pitting. I will now go with professionally made stencils from Ernie's Knives http://www.erniesknives.com/Etching%20Stencils.htm
Haven't tried them yet but I've heard only good things about them and Ernie. Great product, great price and even better service. I'll let you know when I try order and try them.
Pad
Some more info on the etching machine. I use water and salt as a solution. Some add vinegar too but I did not find it made a difference with carbon steel anyway. You have to experiment.
I used some kind of resist like nail polish or paint. Gotta let it dry well though or the current gets through and you get pitting. I will now go with professionally made stencils from Ernie's Knives http://www.erniesknives.com/Etching%20Stencils.htm
Haven't tried them yet but I've heard only good things about them and Ernie. Great product, great price and even better service. I'll let you know when I try order and try them.
Pad
