Matt, Most of the etchants that I have seen for nickel are somewhat nasty (nitric acid and HF mixtures, etc.) A general purpose etch that you might try is listed below. I'm not sure we ever used it to look at grain structure. Equal parts of acetic acid, nitric acid, and water, swabbing for up to 30s. Use fresh, do not store. Etching should be done under a hood. Refer to the MSDS sheets for the chemicals listed for proper safety precautions. There are several other etchants in the following metallography text if you would like further information: Metallography Principles and Practice George F. Vander Voort ISBN 0-07-066970-8 McGraw-Hill Dave Anderson Medtronic, Inc. *************************************************************************** * TechNet mail list is provided as a service by IPC using SmartList v3.05 * *************************************************************************** * To subscribe/unsubscribe send a message <to: [log in to unmask]> * * with <subject: subscribe/unsubscribe> and no text in the body. * *************************************************************************** * If you are having a problem with the IPC TechNet forum please contact * * Dmitriy Sklyar at 847-509-9700 ext. 311 or email at [log in to unmask] * ***************************************************************************