Getting Boxed in !!

Recently a friend of mine wanted a special container to send a gift across, she had some specific dimensions in mind and I suggested an etched copper box made specifically for her requirements.She had seen some previous etched work and was quite excited about the matte effect created while the acid etching is taking place, so she agreed. While she was going to be creating the graphics for the same I was working on the metal work part of the project.

Design ideas for the box © Bhavana Sadhwani

She came up with quite a few designs, quite intricate, the final one that was chosen for its aesthetic value as well as for ease of etching.

The very first thing we did was to go hunting for suitable sheet of metal, this of course had to be copper, while we could have chosen brass, there is just something so irresistible about a sheet of copper with the warm reddish colour that we simply had to go with it.

We bought a sheet that was 20 gauge in thickness and cut it to the required size of 15 x 3 inches ( 4 panels ) for the sides of the boxes and 2 x 3.2 inches(4 panels) for the sides of the lid and one piece of 3.2  x 3.2 and 3 x 3 inches each.

The next step was transferring the design and applying the acid resist on to the positive areas of the design, leaving the negative areas to be etched by the acid.

After having protected the sides and the back of the panels, it was time for the acid to do its work.

Basically the reaction that happens is that the acid combines with the surface copper ( exposed area) to create copper nitrate,  turning the acid blue and releases hydrogen gas in the form of small bubbles that form on the surface of the copper piece.

© Pigeons of Vrindavan society

Here is the fun part of the process, I get to keep moving those bubbles away with the help of a crow's feather ( a pigeon feather works just as great !)

Once the panels of the box had been etched to a satisfactory level, it was time to solder them together 

©Nayna Shriyan Copper, acid etched.

 Once all the sides had been joined, the lid assembled, the need for a small ring to pull the lid out with ease became evident. Once this was added, the box was cleaned and buffed and voila! we had ourselves a pretty good gift box!