OT: Chemical Etching on glass

[Jay Pique]

So I told my insurance carrier that I had a better deal from another company and they miraculously found a better rate for me for the same coverage. However, when the policy came it said I needed proof that my VIN had been etched into all of my car windows. This wasn't the case, but I googled it and bought a kit for $25 on eBay. Simple process - they send you stickers with your VIN printed in it, you put them on your windows and then rub etching cream over the numbers. (It's a stencil, not a sticker I guess.) Worked like a charm. I'm thinking of trying to etch my own steel tools and maybe even a logo into metal to apply to my work. Just an FYI if you want to see if you can reduce your car insurance rates.

JP

[Ed Pawlowski]

If you want to put your name on all your tools, try this setup

[Steve Turner]

Capitalizer-O-Matic They Used On The Text in the Description of The Product.

[LDosser]

You have car window thefts where you live?

[Lew Hodgett]

--------------------------------------- Since hydrofloric acid is the only acid I know of that attacks glass and these glass etching creams clearly state the donot have HF in them (Thank heavens), just wonder what the active ingredient is?

Lew

[LDosser]

HF also loves protein. A drop on your hand will eat its way to China ...

[Stuart]

And bone

That is one chemical to REALLY stay away from.

[dpb]

Lew Hodgett wrote: ...

...

Most are a mixture w/ ammonium bifluoride.

Look up MSDS for any particular product.

--

[Phisherman]

Insurance companies have very strange policies. My home insurance gave me a reduction for bolting window latches. I changed companies and then removed the bolts, except the ones to my shop.

[Martin H. Eastburn]

Melt is right - it also dissolves the bone joints!!

It is absorbed through the skin. So be careful.

We used it in the semiconductor business - to dissolve layers of IC's. It is really nasty stuff - most of the stuff on earth it dissolves!

Mart> "Jay Pique" wrote:

[Stuart]

The point is, in order for a thief to sell on a stolen car, requires that its existing identity be hidden. If the VIN is etched on all the glass it is not easily removable and visible to any would be buyer. To replace all the glass in a car is expensive so not worth the effort to a thief.

Doesn't stop a thief stripping your car and selling the parts for spares though >-|

[J. Clarke]

If you know the brand name of the etchant, google that name and "MSDS" and you may find a material safety data sheet that lists the known-hazardous ingredients. Looking them up for a couple of commercial etching creams revealed that they contained sodium fluoride (the same stuff the dentist uses on your teeth) or ammonium fluoride or both. Most fluorides will etch glass--you may even be able to do it with a fluoride toothpaste but it might take a while for the etch to take.

[Stuart]

So what the B****y h**l does it do to your teeth!

[Lee Michaels]

"J. Clarke" wrote

Forgive me for being paranoid, but if it etches glass, can it be good for you or your teeth?

[J. Clarke]

Decades of clinical experience suggest that it is very good for your teeth. But it can etch porcelain crowns and the like.

Swallow too much of it and it can hurt you but you have to swallow a lot of it. And people who go on about how anything that is toxic in volume is also toxic in small quantities need to consider that air is highly toxic--causes intoxication, convulsions and death if you get too much of it.

Remember, hydrochloric acid will etch steel nicely, but your stomach makes it to digest your food.

[Keith Nuttle]

It all depends on the concentration applied and the total amount given. As I remember Arsenic and Selenium both serious poison are essential trace elements in the body.

Thiamine, a vitamin B, is good, but when you are covered in its dust from head to foot for 8 hours per day it is bad.