English Channel Etched

[oldrocker]

Wow!!!  Man!! Nice job.

[Unclerny]

Beautiful, just beautiful.

UE

[sta63bmx]

Back on the etching kick, here's my question.  The pieces I had all had a nice brushed finish already.  So I just hit the top with 600 grit paper in the sink for a while, and it was super, super smooth when I got done.  I cleaned it up with acetone and the applied the graphic and dumped it in the etch.  In a few places the etch almost ate through the aluminum (it's a piece of maybe 18 gauge sheet) but in most places, it didn't even get into the surface at all.  I don't think the pieces were anodized at all, but they did remind me of the "hard anodized" look that plain aluminum rims used to have.  It's like the chemical got through some kind of protective layer and just went to town.

Any thoughts on that?  I am going to try a piece of "regular" sheet later.

[markm]

Strange.
The only thing that comes to mind is that perhaps it did have some type of coating on it.
When wet sanding aluminum, the particles that come off and remain in the bottom of the sink are generally black,
if you didn't see this at all perhaps there was some type of coating on it.
One way to test would be to put a small dab of ferric chloride in an inconspicuous spot and see if it reacts at all.
Even unsanded, there should be some type of reaction.....if not, it's coated.

[sta63bmx]

Coated it is. lol  Well, fart.  I didn't get hardly ANY pickup while sanding, but I thought "Gee, it's really smooth."  It was a good learning experience, though.  I'm out of etchant right now, so I'm going to just have my wife use embossing powder and her stamping skillz to label it.  But I'll run one of the pieces through the sander and see if I can knock off that coating.  If not, I may just buy some sheet aluminum and cut it in the shear for the "tops" to these boxes.

There was literally no reaction in a lot of places that were unmasked.  If it found a hole through the coating, it got right to work, but otherwise, no dice.  These are boxes that I salvaged, and I should have given more thought to what the manufacturer might have done or not done.  One of our machinists looked at another sample of the pieces and guessed it was hard anodized or clear anodized somehow.  Live and learn!  The good news is that I can just flip it over so the yucky side is inside the box.  

I'll try it again soon.  The ironing and graphics and everything went really smoothly right up until the etch.  I used a huge Sharpie to cover the spots where the PNP blue wasn't on there, and that wore off in the etch, but it had been in there about fifteen minutes.

[markm]

I used a huge Sharpie to cover the spots where the PNP blue wasn't on there, and that wore off in the etch, but it had been in there about fifteen minutes.

Sharpie pens will work but, not as well as the paint method.
I have used a Sharpie for small touch-ups.....and they are excellent for PCB touch-up but,
they don't seem to work as well when doing enclosures.
I think it may be that the reaction with aluminum and ferric chloride is a bit more
aggressive than with copper.

[Sweetalk]

@#$%in awesome!!!!.... I tried to etch some enclosures but the results were really really bad.... I want to do that!!!!!

[RDV]

How much would that bring on eBay?

RDV

[Peter Snowberg]

WOW !!!!! 

BEAUTIFUL!!! 

[$uperpuma]

f*ckin awesome!!!!.... I tried to etch some enclosures but the results were really really bad.... I want to do that!!!!!

have you checked out his tutorial? If not, it has a steller step by step education for you.

[mdh]

Obviously your etching technique is fantastic, markm, but what I'm most impressed with is your artwork. Is your day job in design or something like that? Your designs are very diverse, and truly impressive.

[markm]

How much would that bring on eBay?

RDV

$$$$$$$$$$??
Ahhhh, who knows?

Obviously your etching technique is fantastic, markm, but what I'm most impressed with is your artwork. Is your day job in design or something like that? Your designs are very diverse, and truly impressive.

Thank you for the kudos but,
I am completely removed from any real graphics work unfortunately.
I am in the Automobile business currently, I was an "On-Air-Personality" for quite awhile as well, way back in the '80s!
I do this as a hobby although, alot of my hobbies have been art related. I guess I should come clean and tell you guys that
I was e-mailing back & forth with Robert Keeley about a limited run of etched Keeley Comps but, after a few e-mails, I haven't heard from him since and he no longer responds so......I guess he's not interested or, he'll just follow my photo-essay and do it himself!
Good luck to him 
Thanks again fellas and stay tuned for some completed build pics of the English Channel!

[rockgardenlove]

AMAZING!

[goosonique]

Nice work... ...Keeley why bother !!
You have just inspired me to etch my next box ..
Hey maybe the people at Vox should have a look at your worx...i believe they might just send you check for that pedal.
I would !!!

[markm]

Hey maybe the people at Vox should have a look at your worx...i believe they might just send you check for that pedal.
I would !!!

Well, I don't know about a check but, they may send me a cease and desist!!
Thanks and good luck with your etch.
Keep us posted.
   MarkM

[Kyle Agee]

Thanks for your photo-essay definitley helpful. I had never thought about doing that before.  so yeah. . . thanks again. 

[markm]

Thanks for your photo-essay definitley helpful. I had never thought about doing that before.  so yeah. . . thanks again. 

You are entirely welcome.
Give it a try, it's alot of fun and it's good for the soul!