How do I chemically etch granite?

Question

I have read that hydrofluoric acid will do the trick, but it is very dangerous to use. So, is there some other chemical that I can use to do anything to granite that I could use at my house?

Answer 1

This is not an easy question since rock is a mixture of minerals. Granite contains quartz, feldspar and accessory minerals like biotite and Muscovite (dark and white mica). In other words different chemical compositions and different structures.

Quartz (Si02) is the most acid-resistant, so even if you used a concentrated sulphuric acid, which should do for most of the other minerals, the quartz will still resist this.

You are quite right in not using hydrofluoric acid. This stuff is lethal and is only to be handled by professionals and then with extreme caution.

Sorry not to give a real answer. For the effect you are after it may be better to consult an expert but if you are determined to do this by yourself, concentrated sulphuric acid should do everything except the quartz. Test on a small area first!

Answer 2

Nope.
All the chemicals available for this job are not available to the public without a users licence as they are extremely dangerous.

Any stone mason will do the job you need, and for small jobs there prices are not as expensive as people assume.

I get slabs of granite custom cut all the time and can get a job cut for as little as £5 a sheet.

Answer 3

America is a nation whose rein is pulled by Israel, the traitors who took US to Iraq sold the people of US. About a million Iraqi deaths later, about a trillion $s wasted, many Americans still haven't awakened as there are millions of Christian Zionists, Israel's useful idiots! How much ahead would American economy be had it not been for the waste on Zionist agenda! And now they want Iran invaded.