I finally tried etching a stomp box enclosure

[rring]

First I must pay homage to pappasmurfsharem for providing the suggestion for toner paper found here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=104307.0.

This paper has made etching circuit boards go from frustrating to effortless for me. Because it works so great on boards I tried it on an enclosure. It worked perfectly. I just used ferric chloride to etch and then used pro-tec fishing lure paint for the inlay. It's powder you scrape into the etched area and then melt in an oven. Any residual on the un-etched portion just buffs away.



I realize the graphic is ridiculous - but simian skulls and syringes never go out of style.

[pappasmurfsharem]

Yay homage for me!

That etch looks dayum good sir.!

[Jdansti]

Turned out great!  It looks like they have that lure paint at Bass Pro. I'll have to pick some up and try it.

[peterg]

Nice work, rring! I use the same paper but my etches don't turn out like your's did! How long did you leave the the ferric chloride on for? Did you apply it to the top of the box or put the box face down into a tub of it?

[rring]

Oh yes I forgot to mention - the other important procedure, soak a small sponge with the ferric chloride and use dish gloves. Gently rub the it back and forth. The sponge cleans down to raw metal persistently as you etch. This makes it go much faster and with less undercutting and you use very little ferric chloride. You do it gently and in a relaxed manner. To use the paint powder, you need the etch pretty deep. It took me about 7 to 10 minutes with the sponge.

I prepped the box with 220 grit paper and an orbital sander. It gave a nice even matte finish that the toner stuck well to. I polished with a SOS soap pad(after the etch). The sander helped because the cheap 1590b knock off box I used was very pitted in the casting. I had to sand the surface down to even metal. Having said this, it took only about a minute of prep sanding with the sander. You can leave it matte - which looks nice to my eye or polish it up later. Of course I used painters tape everywhere I could to augment the resist and around the edges..etc.

After doing this - I have concluded actual Hammond enclosures are worth the extra  buck or two because the casting is much nicer.

One last thing - I have used a number of different laser printers with good results but for this I used a copier at work that produces a really even and heavy toner layer. You may consider bringing some of this  paper to a copy shop and try this if you are having lackluster results with a tabletop printer..etc.  

[deadastronaut]

Came out great man...

[Kipper4]

Nice.
I wished i could do etching.
Thanks for sharing