Acid etched faceplates or chassis

[Decko]

Hi,

Has anyone on the forum ever try to acid etch the face plates or chassis for their express?

Decko

[Cantplay]

I've electro etched items.

[img:600:800]http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/1764/plate1.jpg[/img]

Does that count?

John

[Decko]

That's the effect I am looking for. Sorry, I double posted this thread. What is the process?

[loctal]

very cool.

how did you do that?

[Cantplay]

This is similar to etching a pc board.

You can use the same transfer paper. or you can do what I did.

I printed the image with my laserjet on photo paper. Pgoto paper has a fine clay surface, and the laserjet toner is heated and fuses to the paper.

Now with your iron on highest setting iron it to the piece. This bonds the toner to the metal. Soak the piece in water for about an hour, then peel the paper backing off. Very carefully rub the remnants of the paper off leaving only the toner stuck to the matal.

Remember to print in reverse.

You could also paint your image.

Take your wifes favorite tupperware container. Buy some Zep Root Kill, its almost pure copper sulfate. mix up a stron solution in the bowl.

Wire the work to + 12V power supply, and a scrap piece to - The more current you allow, the faster and more agressive the etch will be. You probably want to do some experiments on scraps first.

Once its done you can polish it and seal it, or backfill the low areas by spray painting it and then hitting the high spots with a sanding block and 400 grit.

John

[sethyrish]

I'm building a Rocket with etched brass plates using the toner transfer method from a laser printer and copper sulphate solution electro etched using a 4V 800mA wall-wart.
"Press n peel" paper seems to work best but is expensive. I used some cheap toner transfer paper from ebay.

[Dr-Joned]

That looks really cool !!!! I need to try it on a project.

[Decko]

Okay...so that is the coolest faceplate I have seen yet!

That is exactly the type of art I imagined for my builds. I wanted to do this to a raw aluminum chassis. Etch the front face of an Allyn chassis!

How can I do this with aluminum?

Decko?

[loctal]

So so very cool.

[sethyrish]

For aluminium you use a solution of aluminium sulphate and for steel you use ferric sulphate, although I found it doesn't seem to work as well. Connect your plate as the positive and any metal as the negative (cathode). You may need to experiment a fare bit. I used a cooking hot plate and an iron to heat the metal so the toner melts and transfers from the printed paper to the metal easier.
I'd imagine it would be quite a bit more difficult dirrect to a chassis.

[dartanion]

Here's the thread with Rawnster's acid etched face plates:

https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

[Tillydog]

I wanted to do this to a raw aluminum chassis. Etch the front face of an Allyn chassis!

How can I do this with aluminum?

I used press'n'peel transfer paper & ferric chloride to etch the tops of stomp boxes - you could do the same with the front of an aluminium chassis, I would imagine.

I use 3M blue masking tape from the edge of the design to the edge of the top of the box, then put another strip of masking tape on edge so it sticks up around the edge of the box forming a well. It's worth masking the sides of the box/chassis as well to protect against splashes. I add ferric chloride (PCB etchant) about a tablespoon at a time to the well and continuously swill it around with an old paint brush. The reaction is slow to start, but soon gets fizzing. When it dies down (5 minutes, or so) I rinse it all off, then put in some fresh etchant. I find I need about 3 cycles, and (surprisingly) the masking tape holds up to this OK.

Aluminium might go a bit more slowly than diecasting alloy, but it still reacts vigorously with ferric chloride once it starts.

Fine detail is better etched in than etched around (if you see what I mean). I pushed it too far with fine raised detail on the drive/boost pedal (on the left below), but you live and learn. I haven't inked in the etched areas - these are just laquered.

If you have holes in the panel, you need to block them up - I use masking tape (again) on both sides, but trimmed to be hidden by the knobs on the etched side.

The biggest PITA with the boxes is getting them smooth & flat enough to take the toner transfer.

Andy

[Jana]

"Take your wifes favorite tupperware container."

Okay, so how do you clean out the tupperware? Or just leave it and enjoy the added flavor in the leftovers?

[martin manning]

The etched stomp boxes look great Andy, thanks for posting the details of your technique!

Jana, I'm guessing there was a puckish grin on Jon's face when he was typing that bit about the Tupperware...

[Cantplay]

I've also done stompboxes with a turned finish.

[img:800:600]http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/7529/box1w.jpg[/img]

[img:800:600]http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4715/box2g.jpg[/img]

[img:600:800]http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/5298 ... oxdone.jpg[/img]

I want to do something that combines many techniques.

I've been thinking of doing an etching on brass or copper, then instead of backfilling with color, fill the low areas with solder, and buff it smooth to give an inlay metal look.

John