Pictured here is the Thistle Top of my Boudicca model Great Highland Bagpipe (GHB) tenor drone. For bagpipe components, I typically uses a metal lathe to cut my own ferrules from brass tubing. I have been experimenting with acid etching to imprint Celtic symbols into the brass ferrules.
This seemed particularly appropriate for the Boudicca GHB, honoring the Celtic Warrior Queen Boudicca who rallied conquered tribes in Britannia in a bloody revolt against the occupying Romans in 61-62 AD. I wanted my Celtic symbols to have a crude, iron age look similar to the Celtic coinage that circulated in Britannia some 2,000 years ago. Accomplishing this required a curious assortment of modern implements and components, such as dish soap, a black fine point “Sharpie,” nitrile disposable gloves, plastic containers, blue painters tape, scissors, a bottle of ferric acid, a bag of baking soda, steel wool, a clothes dryer, and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon album. Oh yes, and a few pebbles from the driveway. Curious?
The journey began with some extensive Internet surfing both to see what Celtic symbols might have looked like back “in the day” and also to learn how to acid etch brass from Etsy and YouTube jewelry artists.
Here is the step-by-step process concisely described:
1. Wash the newly cut brass ferrule in soapy water (hence the dish soap) to remove oil and dirt.
2. Use the Sharpie to draw Celtic symbols onto the brass (Let it dry).
3. Use painters tape to seal one end of the brass ferrule (to keep acid away from the inside).
4. Drop one or two pebbles into the open end of the ferrule (as weight so it will not float).
5. Use painters tape to seal the other end of the brass ferrule.
6. Place the sealed ferrule in a plastic cup (Red Solo cup, I fill you up, let’s have a party…).
7. Put on nitrile gloves and pour ferric acid into the plastic cup (to immerse the ferrule).
8. Place the plastic cup on the clothes dryer (where it won’t jiggle off) and turn on the dryer (the vibration helps the etching process).
9. Play the entire album, The Dark Side of the Moon, by Pink Floyd (it’s about 43 minutes long).
10. In another plastic container add water and baking soda (to neutralize the ferric acid).
11. Put nitrile gloves back on, then carefully pour the ferric acid from the plastic cup back into the ferric acid bottle (it can be reused many times).
12. Plop the acid-etched brass ferrule into the water and baking soda solution (watch it fizz).
13. Rinse the neutralized ferrule in water and remove the painters tape (save pebbles for reuse).
14. Dry off the ferrule then buff it with steel wool (ooooh shiny)!
