Etched enclosures

[tasos]

Great job dude

[.Mike]

VERY nice! I particularly like the beams coming off the saucers. Did you draw it yourself?

How much of your transfer do you paint over before etching?

[deadastronaut]

@mike, this is how it started off as a clipart i found......i redrew the saucers, buildings, etc.....and added a couple of humans....and a moon...good old inkscape..

i only paint round the edge of the box....i should leave open areas to paint and save on toner, but i always forget....


during this cold weather, ive taken to etching in a plastic bowl, which is placed in hot water in my sink....the etching is much more reactive..

i'll get round to a 'video' tutorial one day...if my video soft takes 3gp vid...

[.Mike]

Cool. It looks really good. I really like how the one guy is in front of the skyline.


Here is one that is fresh out of the acid. I just finished it about 15 minutes ago:



It is puzzling that I can do fine details, like the outlined text for the words "Phase Shift" but I can't do the stinking straight line along the top without getting pitting. I haven't figured it out, but I am pretty sure I am narrowing it down. It's either the transfer medium (dollar store photo paper), sanding too smooth (nothing to grip), or, most likely, the etchant is too mild. Even with heating, it takes forever. That allows time for the acid to absorb into the paper embedded in the toner, which causes the pitting... I think. Stronger peroxide (and more safety equipment) is in order.

Here is the drawing of what I wanted it to look like:



It's going to be a Phase 90, so I'm going to paint it in an orange gradient. Not sure on the text color, or the stars. Black knobs, jacks on top.

Now to finish the board... 

Mike

[deadastronaut]

looks great, that'll be nice orange and black..classic... yeah i know what you mean about text versus lines...weird eh?...

many variables to that, ..as you say...

i use 180 grit paper to start with, really grippy.....my image is printed on 150gsm photopaper (toner save settings off), iron on hottest (linen) (not for too long actually..just till the box is untouchable.

peel off when cooled..rinse, rub off any residue..i let it dry, then pick any residue out with a pin/tiny screwdriver, nail varnish edges...tape up and matchsticks..

i do make a strong ferric solution and do 2 boxes at a time...heat definately helps..and agitating ...i leave it in till the edges go rusty, and bubbling ceases a little...

rinse, and then i use a toothbrush to scrub out detail, then a used piece of 600 with a block...so as not to sand metal off...wash with ho water and washing up liquid,

dry then spray black etc...sand with used 600 again...well thats my long drawn out process, but it works .... ive had good results with magazine paper, as lond as its only got text on it..no colour parts...

i look forward to seeing yours done...it'll be cool...ive never made a phase 90..only 45....

[.Mike]

Well, here it is, all painted. I'm not particularly happy with the result, due to the pitting, but I am happy with the shades of orange. Not bad, considering I had to mix it all out of red and yellow Testors enamel.



Thanks for the tips, Rob. On future etches, I'm going to stop at a low-grit paper, and I'm going to use a more aggressive etchant.

Still have to build this thing... heh.

Mike

[kevilay]

when you put the case into the plasic container in the acid do you just sit it on the bottom or do you put something in there to lift it up a bit? Do you stir the chloride at all to keep it moving?

[.Mike]

I tried the enclosure-in-the acid method, and it didn't work well for me at all. It was just way too aggressive, causing the aluminum to flake off in sheets. And since it is face down, you kind of can't see it.

I have had my best results with either a sponge and a glove, or a toothbrush. I use HCl 31% + H2O2 3%.

Mike

[deadastronaut]

@mike: i think it looks great...  custom colour too...

yeah know what you mean 'just got to build it now'...fiinishing my delay today...


@kev:  i do put my boxes face down in the tub, but i tape bits of matches on the dege of the front to keep it raised off the bottom....but i constantly keep lifting it out and dunking it back in

to agitate it...i find its ready to come out when the silver is black, and it has a little rust around he edges of the details...thats when i whip it out....the box that is..

[kevilay]

for the images shown, when you put it onto the pedal you must invert the white and black correct? What do you use to do this?

[.Mike]

You do your design with the white being the etched part, and the black being the non-etched part. Once you are finished, you flip the image horizontally, and print it.

Your print out should look correct when viewing its reflection in a mirror, or when held up to a bright light and looking through the non-printed side.

This is what my transfer looked like:



I use a very old version of Photoshop and a scanned enclosure. I use layer styles to simulate an etch effect so I get a better idea of what it might look like.

Mike

[deadastronaut]

@kevilay:  download inkscape its a free vector graphics prog, its great, it gives really clean edges to your drawings, you can also download amazing fonts at dafont.com

to use in it...

when i first started etching i used a crappy image prog, and the edges were not clean, by clean i mean circles would have jagged edges, etc...but inkscape wont...

inkscape takes a bit of getting used too, but there are plenty of tutorials on youtube for it...

also, i make a blank template for the box 'face' size, 1590b, 1590bb ..etc...then use that...once you've got them sized properly away you go...

[DocAmplify]

My enclosure isn't finished yet, but here's a view of my etching.  I was going for a sharper etch.  The fuzz around the crown and around my lines are errors (although the effect isn't bad). 

To get it a bit closer to what I wanted, I decided to paint it.  I have a coat of primer on now, and I plan on getting some gloss paint into the etched recesses tomorrow night. 

[guitarmageddon]

I too have caught the etching bug...
Here are some of my first.
I posted a few others in the 1590A thread too.

BYOC Flanger



Super Page Bender



Madbean Darkside



Madbean Cup Cake (orange squeezer)

[deadastronaut]

cool stuff... love those old pics of scantily clad women..betty page etc....

[Strange]

[/quote

Really dig this one.

[Strange]

My latest - Two Headed Fuzz - classic FuzzFace with bias adjustment - vintage looking componets and carbon comp resistors on a turret board. I was going for a distressed/reliced look but i need alot more practice.

[deadastronaut]

^ etched?..

[Strange]

^ etched?..

Yup.

[deadastronaut]

so the bird is raised?...then painted?.

or bird is recessed black then paint rollered red over?... looks cool btw.. ...