Paper and Printing Recipes / A Handy Volume of Practical Recipes, Concerning the Every-Day Business of Stationers, Printers, Binders, and the Kindred Trades

by John Sawtelle Ford

Writing on Metals.

To write on metals, take half a pound of nitric acid and one ounce muriatic acid. Mix and shake well together, and then it is ready for use. Cover the plate you wish to mark with melted beeswax; when cold, write your inscription plainly in the wax clear to the metal with a sharp instrument. Then apply the mixed acids with a feather, carefully filling each letter. Let it remain from one to ten hours, according to the appearance desired, throw on water, which stops the process, and remove the wax.