Charbonnel etching ball grounds, manufactured in France, and available in soft or hard black ball and lamour hard ball grounds. The solid form is applied on warm plates with a leather dabber or a brayer. The matt black finish allows work with a needle to be clearly visible.

Traditional etching grounds and retouch grounds can contain the following ingredients: Bitumen from Judea (asphalt), turpentine, wax, dammar resin, petrol, colofonium and tar. It is used to cover the etching plate, making it resistant during etching. After covering the plate with the ground (by dabber, brayer, roller or brush), the design is made on the ground.

Three black ball grounds are available: soft black etching ball ground, hard black ball ground and Lamour black etching ball ground.

Dimensions of ball : diam. 4 cm, 1.6″, height, 3 cm, 1.2″. weight 20 gram.

 

CHARBONNEL Soft black ball etching ground

A painting dabber or brayer is recommended for application. The plate must be heated before application, as the soft grounds protect the plate. They are non-drying grounds, applied with a painting dabber or roller. Textures and materials pressed into the non-drying surface will lift off, leaving the metal bared, ready for the bite of the acid. The “Pencil Method” consists of drawing with a hard point on “laid” paper applied over the soft ground. The paper sticks to the drawn parts. After the bite of the acid, a pencil stroke effect is obtained.

• Judea bitumen, pitch resin, tallow, beeswax
• Dry extract: 52%
• Hardness: supple
• Finish: opaque matt
• Consistency: paste

 

CHARBONNEL Hard black ball ground

Wrapped in a piece of taffeta that serves as a filter, the ball ground is rubbed on a pre-heated metal plate. Roll the ground onto the plate to obtain an even surface before smoking. The matt black finish obtained makes the etching work very clear. Once the ground is applied and dry, the picture is drawn with a hard point to expose the metal beneath the ground. Then the plate is placed in a bath of acid to erode the exposed metal. Once the required bite depth has been attained, the plate should be taken out of the acid bath solution and dried and the ground removed with the appropriate thinner.

• Judea bitumen, wax
• Dry extract: 100%
• Hardness: very hard
• Finish: opaque matt
• Consistency: paste

 

Lamour hard black ball etching ground

This ground is slightly less hard than the Charbonnel Hard Black Ball Ground, but use the same method to apply the ground to the plate. Wrapped in a piece of taffeta that serves as a filter, the ball is rubbed on the pre-heated metal plate. Dab on the ground to obtain an even surface before smoking. The matt black finish obtained makes the etching work very clear. Once the ground is applied and dry, the picture is drawn with a hard point to expose the metal beneath the ground. The plate is then placed in a bath of acid to erode the exposed metal. Once the required bite depth has been attained, the plate should be taken out of the acid bath solution and dried and the ground removed with the appropriate thinner:

• Judea bitumen,
• Dammar resin, wax.
• Dry extract: 100%
• Hardness: hard
• Finish: opaque matt
• Consistency: paste

 

Plate Cleaning:
Before applying these grounds, all grease must be removed from the plate with a degreasing material.

 

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