Electromagnetic Etching

Metalsmithing is more of a technical skill to attempt I admit. It involves very specific tools that aren't really that cheap, but if you have the right resources (like the metals studio located at the top of the hill on the slippery rock campus) you can create some really cool pieces of art or even jewelry. Electromagnetic etching is actually a lot less technical than it sounds and is really easy.

What To Get:
sharpie paint pen
piece of 18 gauge copper with a hole drilled at the top
electrical tape
phone cord
copper wire
stainless steel cathode (spoons work)
salt water
plastic container

How-To:
1. Prep coarse salt and boiling water the night before
2. Prep the metal. Make sure the it is really clean by scrubbing it with Comet or other household cleaner.
3. Draw your design with your sharpie pen and tape
**whatever is exposed will be etched**
4. Attach the copper wire to the stainless steel lead and the piece of metal. Making them hooked so that they can be hung on opposite sides of the plastic container in the salt water mixture.
5. Take the phone charger and strip the wires so that a red and black wire (usually) are revealed.
6. Attach the the black wire to the lead on the stainless steel and the red wire to the lead on the piece of copper.
7. Dip the the two wires into the salt water and plug in the phone charger.
**you might be able to see the metal fizzing if the charge is strong enough**
8. Last step! After 20 minutes take out of the solution and rinse off. And you have yourself an etched image!

http://blog.nanzaalund.com/post/2013/09/09/New-Workshops-Just-Added!.aspx