Etching Enclosures - or things I didn't know about FeCl

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Does anyone have an input about using PnP Blue for the toner transfer? That is what I use exclusively and everyone raves about photopaper. Would the use of PnP Blue cause a deviation in the sacred "Slade Etching Tutorial?"

I have still not braved another etch since my initial disasters. 

[frequencycentral]

Would the use of PnP Blue cause a deviation in the sacred "Slade Etching Tutorial?"

  Heretic! The word of Slade is our most holy text.

[therecordingart]

For the life of me I can't get a good transfer onto enclosures. PCBs I can do all day without issues.

[deadastronaut]

For the life of me I can't get a good transfer onto enclosures. PCBs I can do all day without issues.

use a course grade paper to sand your box..(wet with washing up liquid)...so it has a good key to stick too...and cleans as it sands too...

.and use a print using best quality...... and keep all stages clean..... should be ok..

i use a very hot iron... no problems at all...(oh yeah glossy paper).


@steve, yeah i think it was..

[merlinb]

So are you guys all using laser printers/photocopiers then?

Rick told me inkjet photo paper with a laser printer works well, or can you use regular glossy laser paper? 

(I don't have a laser printer, but I have access to one at uni, but I daren't put inkjet paper in!)

[deadastronaut]

i use glossy paper.....and yeah it has to be laser toner...i use printer.. not photocopier..

some guys use magazine type paper..never tried it though..

ive tried some inkjet paper..., but the toner didnt stick to it....it was easily rubbed off.. but i dont know whether hat was just crap paper!...

[CodeMonk]

Just a note (Warning)....
In used to use FeCL for etching boards until I found out about Muratic Acid/Hydrogen peroxide.
Works great for etching boards.

Then one day I decided to try using that for etching an enclosure.

BAD BAD BAD IDEA. totally hosed the box. Although it did look kind of interesting, it a weird way.
It seems that mixture reacts almost violently with aluminum.

[frequencycentral]

In the interests of science, here a labelled photo of my lab rat:



Not sure how easy it is to see the difference in depth of etch. IMO, #1 is a little too shallow, #2 about right, #3 way off the mark. Please ignore any pitting on this particular etch, which was due to lazy prep work rather than acid exposure. Just to give a fair result, it was the same small batch of etchant, 50ml of FeCl to 50ml of water. I did the etches in this order #1, #3, #2. As the etched area of each etch was pertty small, I'm *guessing* that the net degrading effect of the power of the etchant after each was minimal.

[Pigyboy]

Hey Govmn't Lacky,
I use an  orbital sander and wet sand with grits 400, 800 & 1200 then the coarse & soft buffer wheels. I do the transfer right on the polished box. I found some cleaning oil for stainless steel that I coat them with to stop them picking up finger prints.
Chris

[Beo]

I got my best toner transfer last night with a new method. I had my 1590DD enclosure placed upside down on a flat wooden board with a few sheets of scrap newspaper in between. The board was extended off the side of my table. I then used clamps to hold the enclosure tight against the board. Then, I heated the enclosure from above with my heat gun on high for about 5 minutes. With wet fingers I dropped a sprinkle of water inside the enclosure and got a great frying pan sizzle, so I knew I got the box nice and hot. Afterwards, I released the clamps and flipped the box over and went over the toner sheet (laser toner on magazine paper) with my iron, mainly to work the edges and corners a bit, but I don't know if this was really necessary. Then I dropped the box into a sink full of hot water. Ten minutes later, the Magazine paper practically fell away, and a little rubbing got the most of the rest away.

I think the constant even pressure of the clamps onto the flat board, and the super hot temperature I got from the heat gun, was the magic. In past transfers, I never seemed to get enough heat from my iron to all parts of the enclosure face, and I never felt like I was getting enough pressure leaning down on  the iron.

Next time I'm going to skip the iron step and just try the clamp method. Also, I'm going to try inkjet paper. While I liked how the magazine paper loosened up in water, I had a hard time getting all of the paper rubbed out from very fine details in my toner image. I haven't etched yet to see how much any remaining magazine paper residue will effect my etch.

Unfortunately, one of my clamps had plastic, and deformed with the heat, so I'll be shopping for a few more C-clamps soon. Also, I guess there could be some risk of lighting something on fire, so be ready in case. The most I got was some toasty fumes from the heated paper underneath the enclosure and and the paper I used to  pad the clamps from the box.

[jplebre]

I know this topic is old but it gave me some guidelines for my second attempt.
funny enough I tried to reproduce Frequency central issue first. Same echant, diluted it, and nada. No bubbles, fiz... only a very light fiz on the aluminium letters.

had to try to add heat.

Run it through 20min and got a shallowish etch.

How the hell you take the nail varnish out though???

[glops]

I know this topic is old but it gave me some guidelines for my second attempt.
funny enough I tried to reproduce Frequency central issue first. Same echant, diluted it, and nada. No bubbles, fiz... only a very light fiz on the aluminium letters.

had to try to add heat.

Run it through 20min and got a shallowish etch.

How the hell you take the nail varnish out though???

I heat the bottle of ferric on top of the stove with the oven on at around 200 degrees.  Leave it long enough so that the ferric can warm up.

Then I pour some acid in a cup and apply it with a sucker/blower bulb.  I put the box face up in a plastic bin and apply the acid. I resuck up the run off with the bulb and keep reapplying. I'll add fresh acid from time to time.  I have another plastic bin with water that I emerge the box into when it starts to heat up and looks like it needs a break.

Wet sand the varnish off or use acetone....

[Beo]

I put the box face up in a plastic bin and apply the acid.

This is how I've been doing it lately as well. Known as gravity etch. To heat the solution, I have it in a glass bowl, and I blow my heat gun over it. A blow drier would work also. Just don't blast it with air so hard it splashes out.

I've found that rinsing with water and also brushing over the surface with a disposable foam paint brush is good for clearing out any black corroded surface so that fresh aluminum is exposed for more etching.