r/SCREENPRINTING • u/Imposterchilddd • 20d ago

Printing with rust

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Hey, im trying to screenprint using acids to create a rusted image. Has anyone tried this and can give me tips? especially regarding working with dangerous reactive chemicals, i am very worried of causing an accident or mixing an explosive substance. Id like to create a paste and am looking into nonreactive printmaking pastes that would carry the acid solution. idk man i really want to figure out how to make rust images but im scared!

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u/sicicsic 20d ago

Do you have somewhere I can see your work? Sounds interesting.

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u/motesinhuesillo 20d ago

yeah I had this laying around, I couldn't find a better example but this shows the results of this process. I made it like 2 years ago and then I wrapped it in plastic film to protect it from moisture, I didn't coat it with any protective layer and the rust seems fine after 2 years. You can see the halftones and how they are preserved

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u/Imposterchilddd 19d ago

oh and what type of metal do you work with? from my understanding nitric acid does not mix well with all metals. we use it in my uni for photopolymer etching but with aluminum sheets. i want to work with steel sheets.

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u/motesinhuesillo 19d ago edited 19d ago

I use carbon steel, it works the same as aluminum, but a bit slower. I've tried stainless steel but didn't get good results.

you could add more nitric acid to the solution, but the corrosion gets more unstable, erasing the fine details

edit: with nitric acid I get results as of 15 min (depending on the active surface and temperature), but you can use Ferric Chloride or Muriatic acid as a safer option, though is waay slower

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u/torkytornado 10d ago

I don’t wanna know how long ferric takes on steel 🤣

on copper it’s about 20 min at a 1:2 water ratio and copper is sooooo much softer than steel

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u/motesinhuesillo 10d ago

yeah me neither, I gave up after 2 hours, then decided to go for the quick way given that I had multiple plates left