Etched enclosures

[amptramp]

From back

My new solution is so strong.For the first image it took only 2 minutes to etch it.The enclosure was so hot that i could barely touch it.For the pcbs it takes only some seconds !!!

I am getting an interesting optical illusion here - at first glance, it looked like the nearest ear hole was an eye and the darkening on the inner edge of the ear looked like the other eye in profile.  The rat eyes looked like a mouth.  The jacket looked like an ear hanging down like a dog's ear.  Entertaining.  Actually, the back cover art is sometimes the best.

[.Mike]

Here's the etch I did for a booster I am building:



The enclosure started as part of a powdercoated dent-n-scratch assortment that I bought here. It turned out I got 8 green and 2 blue, so I am sanding down some of the greens and using them bare.

I think it's my best etch yet. The top etch was perfect, but I made the same mistake I made last time. I didn't give enough time for the enamel to dry. The enclosure heated up, the enamel melted, and all the edges were pitted. I had to reshape the edges of the enclosure to remove the pitting. I think it looks pretty good.

The etch on the front edge was very difficult to transfer. It took me 2 separate redesigns, and 8 tries at transferring before I got it right. It came out perfect, though. I haven't even sanded it yet, just wiped with acetone.

The paint scheme is going to be an assortment of blues to go with the hurricane theme.

Mike

[deadastronaut]

great looking etch mike.....nice design too....


i keep wondering what a shaded design would come out like, i always do bold stuff....but shading would be cool...if it didn't mess it up..

[.Mike]

Thanks.

Here's a detail shot of the front etch.



I can't wait to get this thing built.

Mike

[.Mike]

Am I the only one working on etched enclosures this week? Heh...!

Here's the paint for my Category 3 Booster:



I did all the detail work first, and sprayed the big area last. The main fill area is Rustoleum spray enamel, and the rest is Testors enamel that I mixed into varying shades, and then dabbed on with a brush. There actually is a pattern to the order of the border colors, but you'll never figure it out. $5 donation to DIYSB in the name of the first person who does.

I tape, paint, and then hold my enclosures overnight at probably about 150 degrees. That fully cures the enamel, and levels out any brush strokes.

I just finished sanding off the spray from the high spots. I laid the spray paint on sort of thick (intentionally), and the sanding left a bit of scuffing. I am rebaking it now, hoping it will semi-liquify and smooth back out. If it doesn't, I hope the gloss enamel I plan on spraying will melt it enough to hide the scuff marks.

Oh yeah, and I'm still tidying up the layout. I hope to etch the board and get it built this weekend. Hopefully I'll have a finished pedal by Monday, and I think I am going to try my hand at a video demo.

I'll be posting the project files once I have it built and verified for anyone who wants to build one for their own use. I also have an extra set of enclosure transfers, and I'll make an extra set of PCB transfers. I will gladly send those to one of the more experienced etchers here, if one of you wants to build one (no offense to beginner etchers, this was very difficult to etch and paint).

More to come!

Mike

[davent]

Great looking work .Mike!

[glops]

Am I the only one working on etched enclosures this week? Heh...!

Here's the paint for my Category 3 Booster:



I did all the detail work first, and sprayed the big area last. The main fill area is Rustoleum spray enamel, and the rest is Testors enamel that I mixed into varying shades, and then dabbed on with a brush. There actually is a pattern to the order of the border colors, but you'll never figure it out. $5 donation to DIYSB in the name of the first person who does.

I tape, paint, and then hold my enclosures overnight at probably about 150 degrees. That fully cures the enamel, and levels out any brush strokes.

I just finished sanding off the spray from the high spots. I laid the spray paint on sort of thick (intentionally), and the sanding left a bit of scuffing. I am rebaking it now, hoping it will semi-liquify and smooth back out. If it doesn't, I hope the gloss enamel I plan on spraying will melt it enough to hide the scuff marks.

Oh yeah, and I'm still tidying up the layout. I hope to etch the board and get it built this weekend. Hopefully I'll have a finished pedal by Monday, and I think I am going to try my hand at a video demo.

I'll be posting the project files once I have it built and verified for anyone who wants to build one for their own use. I also have an extra set of enclosure transfers, and I'll make an extra set of PCB transfers. I will gladly send those to one of the more experienced etchers here, if one of you wants to build one (no offense to beginner etchers, this was very difficult to etch and paint).

More to come!

Mike

That's gonna be great! I love the tiles on the edges.

[deadastronaut]

looking good mike, very nice...

is it morse code round the edge?....do i win?....

[darron]

edit: crap. posted in the wrong thread!

back to it.... wear goggles! i had a twitch for like three years in one eye....

[frequencycentral]

Today I sanded, toner transferred, etched, drilled, sanded, toner transferred, etched, drilled, sanded, toner transferred, etched, drilled, sanded, toner transferred, etched, drilled...............

I'll @#$%in filthy, I need a shower......



And here's last week's cheesecake:

[deadastronaut]

lazy sod!...   looks great , its worth the hard work though eh!...

[.Mike]

Hey Rick, your boxes look a lot rougher than mine do when you're done etching.

What grit do you sand to, and are you sanding by hand, or are you using a power sander?

OT: Is that a terrazzo floor? I've been thinking about trying to duplicate that on a pedal.

Mike

[John Lyons]

This deserves to be big here.  Nice one Mike!

[.Mike]

Thanks!

I used buffing compound and elbow grease, and smoothed all the minor scuffing out of the big blue area. It looks smooth now.

I'm working on finishing the layout right now, and hope to etch and build this evening.

Mike

[deadastronaut]

@mike.  is it morse code then?...

[.Mike]

Hehe... no, sorry. It's not Morse Code. There is no message. I did generate the sizes of the tiles using a random number generator, since my attempts at trying to make them random didn't look random at all.

I did the same for the paint, but it also didn't look random. I found a pattern that ended up looking more random than I was able to fake. It was out of necessity-- I didn't want to clean my brush after every tile... heh! You'll never guess, so I'll explain it when I'm done.

Mike

[frequencycentral]

Hey Rick, your boxes look a lot rougher than mine do when you're done etching.

What grit do you sand to, and are you sanding by hand, or are you using a power sander?

OT: Is that a terrazzo floor? I've been thinking about trying to duplicate that on a pedal.

Mike

I'm sanding by hand. I'm aiming for 'flat as quick as possible' and not 'shine', so yeah I use coarse paper. That last batch of four was done with 100 grit. The Gemini was done with 100 then 320. I'm not really bothered about them being all see-your-face-in-it, I just want it flat enough to take a transfer well. I also sand again post-etching, to remove any last traces of toner which the wire wool doesn't catch. Coarse has it's own charm.

Your etch is beautiful .Mike!

[m@ster k@frer]

Here are two little boxes waiting to house an always on buffer circuithopefully I'll have them finished during the weekend...

[Greenmachine]

Wow .Mike.

[.Mike]

Wow .Mike.

Heh... thanks. Unfortunately, that has been set aside for a bit due to some homeowner-related events not of my choosing. It's 95% done, though-- just have to clearcoat it, and work out a couple last bugs. Finished pics soon, I hope.

Mike