Etched enclosures

[electrosonic]

Great morning, two successful etches and I found a set of Monsoon MM-1000 speakers w/ subwoofer for $25 at the thrift store.



from an 1870 Lithograph - Octopus attack from Jules Verne's "20000 Leagues Under the Sea"



Electro-etched w/ copper sulfate

Andrew.

[deadastronaut]

@andrew:  came out nice man....

[electrosonic]

The thing I like about the electo etching is that the etch is darkened by the process. Once it is done, I just clean off the toner with acetone and I am done - no painting and no sanding. It suits my lazy nature.

Andrew.

[deadastronaut]

cool, sounds nice n easy.....i need to be more lazy...

[deadastronaut]

here's my usual rubbish...

[bluebunny]

here's my usual rubbish...

Noooo!  You do yourself a disservice, Rob!  I know lazy would give you more time for sausages, but don't neglect your excellent etches!

[deadastronaut]

i always make time for sausages...   cheers man.

[Jdansti]

here's my usual rubbish...

Cool looking rubbish!  I like the Rorschach inspired eyes.

[Mustachio]

Your pedals always look great Rob! Do you clear coat them ?

[deadastronaut]

h jim, yep i use car clearcoat spray... it can cure by itself, or be put in a toster oven for just a couple on mins literally........or on a radiator.

just keeps em shiny..

thin coat on sides, few coats on top.

[Pettol]

@deadastronaut: Nice etch! I have got to try clear coating them some time...

[Hexjibber]

Has anyone tried using a sponge to apply the etchant to an enclosure? Thinking about trying it with sodium hydroxide as pipetting takes quite a while with a full design and dipping/submerging didn't work out too well for me last time! Found this and wondered if it would work for etching enclosures?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sponge-Ferric-Chloride-Method-Etch-Circuit-Bo/

[Jdansti]

Has anyone tried using a sponge to apply the etchant to an enclosure? Thinking about trying it with sodium hydroxide as pipetting takes quite a while with a full design and dipping/submerging didn't work out too well for me last time! Found this and wondered if it would work for etching enclosures?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Sponge-Ferric-Chloride-Method-Etch-Circuit-Bo/

Test a small piece of  the sponge material first to make sure it's compatible with the NaOH.  Another option might be a paint brush. Again, test for compatibility.

[ch1naski]

I plan on doing the sponge method this weekend.  Gotta grab some laser toner first....

I'll report the results.

[Hexjibber]

Etch #3! Really pleased with how this one turned out  

[ch1naski]

How did you do the two-tone thing?

[Pettol]

Beautiful! Great work Graham!

[deadastronaut]

+1 came out excellent..

[ch1naski]

Having the worst luck getting the toner to transfer. On my fourth try, this time using photo paper. Crossing fingers....

[rousejeremy]

Having the worst luck getting the toner to transfer. On my fourth try, this time using photo paper. Crossing fingers....

Don't feel bad. I've never successfully etched a pedal. I don't know how these guys do it. It's tough enough to get a PCB etched just right.