Etched enclosures

[italianguy63]

Getting ready to drop acid...

I've talked about how I use HP presentation paper... you can see the one in the bottom right with no touchup hardly.  (My sanding must have been good on that one).

Plus, you can see the black mask (touchup)-- done with paint pencil.  Nice control, easy....

Finally blue 3M tape is fantastic.  Easy, no cleanup-- no spray paint... etc.

Anyway-- a KLONe, Compressor, and 3 Overdrives getting ready to get dunked.  I've been busy lately......

MC

[rocket8810]

Gorgeous job on the chupacara. And again thanks for the compliments on the first box I did. I'm working now on my next one, an Ezekiel. Italian, I can't get the presentation paper to work at all for me, and I can't figure it out for the life of me. I get one of three things happen, either it smears at certain parts, the ink doesn't transfer right and is light, or it sticks and when I use the scrubby side of a sponge it ends up pulling up the black mask. I wish I could figure it out cause it would be much cheaper then using the press n' peel blue, which I don't have work 100% of the time either, but when it does works great, but expensive as shit.

Oh, and side note I can't see those images either. Which sucks cause I really want to see them, cause I bet they look awesome. I get the same forbidden message.

[italianguy63]

Italian, I can't get the presentation paper to work at all for me, and I can't figure it out for the life of me. I get one of three things happen, either it smears at certain parts, the ink doesn't transfer right and is light, or it sticks and when I use the scrubby side of a sponge it ends up pulling up the black mask.

Hmmm....

Smearing?  Don't let the paper move AT ALL when you are ironing.  I usually let the iron go for about a minute at first just holding the paper down until it starts to stick, and getting the enclosure hot.  (it should be "sizzle" hot if you get it right).  Once it is good and hot, work the iron really well to make sure you get the image stuck down everywhere... I use the tip of the iron especially in the corners.  My cheap enclosures have casting imperfections in the corners, for example.

Light or lifting image?  Surface prep maybe?  I block sand until the enclosure is absolutely flat.   I use 180 to 220 grit wet/dry.  It's a lot of work...  Also, don't touch the sanded enclosure-- you can transfer oils from your hands...  I don't use chemicals to clean either prior to ironing.  But, if I do, I use laquer thinner, then hit it lightly again with sandpaper.

Use the scrubby to get the final paper off (most comes off with water, and scrub it with your finger).. but the haze is OK.  You know you have it right when you start to see the "silver" of the unmasked areas show though.. but, it is OK if it is still a little hazy.  See my pic above.

Here they are out of the tank.  Mask cleaned off with solvent.  UNTOUCHED with sandpaper yet.  Really.  Results are great.  Sorry for the poor lighting.  Just a quick pic.  MC



EDIT:  BTW Zach-- what font is that?  I dig it!!

[italianguy63]

Ironing tip:

I use a doubled over bath towel on the tabletop... it gives both heat/scuff protection to the tabletop, and it holds the enclosure firmly in place while you go to town with it with the iron.  I use a "oven mit" on my left hand to hold things in place at first until it gets hot grabbing the sides of the enclosure as needed.  Hardest part is probaby getting the transfer paper exactly in place prior to ironing, and then not letting it move while you get things situated and the ironing started.  Like anything, it is practice.  It took me a while to get the etch time down.  Several enclosures ruined until I figured out I was etching too long.  MC

[poppyman]

thanks PeterG!
love your etches and your work on the 1590B's!!!

[rocket8810]

Italian, I can't get the presentation paper to work at all for me, and I can't figure it out for the life of me. I get one of three things happen, either it smears at certain parts, the ink doesn't transfer right and is light, or it sticks and when I use the scrubby side of a sponge it ends up pulling up the black mask.

Hmmm....

Smearing?  Don't let the paper move AT ALL when you are ironing.  I usually let the iron go for about a minute at first just holding the paper down until it starts to stick, and getting the enclosure hot.  (it should be "sizzle" hot if you get it right).  Once it is good and hot, work the iron really well to make sure you get the image stuck down everywhere... I use the tip of the iron especially in the corners.  My cheap enclosures have casting imperfections in the corners, for example.

Light or lifting image?  Surface prep maybe?  I block sand until the enclosure is absolutely flat.   I use 180 to 220 grit wet/dry.  It's a lot of work...  Also, don't touch the sanded enclosure-- you can transfer oils from your hands...  I don't use chemicals to clean either prior to ironing.  But, if I do, I use laquer thinner, then hit it lightly again with sandpaper.

Use the scrubby to get the final paper off (most comes off with water, and scrub it with your finger).. but the haze is OK.  You know you have it right when you start to see the "silver" of the unmasked areas show though.. but, it is OK if it is still a little hazy.  See my pic above.

Here they are out of the tank.  Mask cleaned off with solvent.  UNTOUCHED with sandpaper yet.  Really.  Results are great.  Sorry for the poor lighting.  Just a quick pic.  MC



EDIT:  BTW Zach-- what font is that?  I dig it!!

hmmm. i'll have to try it again. maybe i had them good, and just over thought it? i remember that on some of the parts to be etched there was some paper still stuck to it, so i thought it wouldn't work. i guess that little bit comes off when the enclosure is put in the solution.

i usually sand the enclosure with 400 grit to get everything as flat as i can. hell i even cover the enclosure in sharpie and sand till i don't see any of it left to ensure there are no low spots. then i cleaned the enclosure with acetone till the cloth is clean. i left the iron on top of the paper for about a minute or so just sitting there, then i worked the iron around in circles on the paper. it didn't look like it moved, i had a little bit of tape down on it to hold it in place, so i thought maybe i put too much pressure on it.

i just finished painting my Ezekiel that i etched with the press n' peel, it took 3 @#$%ing tries to get it right, as i had some bubbling and unclean lines. i'm going to give the gloss paper another shot and post up what it looks like before etching to see if you think ti should be good to go. cause i would love to do this more, and not have to spend about $2 a sheet for the press n' peel, even though i'll get 4 1590bb or 4-5 125bs out it it. the gloss paper would be so much more cost effective.

oh and that typeface is called VanDyke if i remember correctly. i'll have to double check. i think it looked great with that image and gave the vibe i wanted. it seems one of the most annoying things i deal with in designing my enclosures is picking the right typeface. if it's wrong the vibe is shot.

[italianguy63]

Good luck.  I have GREAT results with the HP paper.

It looks grey/hazy when dry.  If you scrub all the grey off-- you would get thinner mask-- I expect it would still work, but you would get spotty shaddows... and not as clean images.  Not what you are experiencing.  Try to lightly sand just before applying the paper to be sure the solvent is all gone.  Maybe that is it...

Thanks man-- your stuff looks awesome.  Keep fighting the fight, and building the vibe!

MC

[Beo]

Meatstick time!

[italianguy63]

Really.  I love building these.  Here is a nice KLONe....

A shout out to LPD (Grovenut).  I started using his PCB (Solaris), and a big improvement... It lets the layout be so comfortable.  I missed it a tiny bit on this one.  I need to move the jacks and stomp down about a 1/4 inch.  It is a tiny bit crowded.  But, definitely an improvement.

Of course, it sounds great too...

Thanks Law-- I appreciate all the help you have offered me..  MC

[bluebunny]

Here is a nice KLONe....

Yep, agree.   

[Cozybuilder]

Between Dead-Astro's video and your technique explanations, this is starting to look do-able. Great looking pedal Mark!

[italianguy63]

Between Dead-Astro's video and your technique explanations, this is starting to look do-able. Great looking pedal Mark!

You could fit 8 pedals in the space I use.. LOL...



MC

[Groovenut]

Really.  I love building these.  Here is a nice KLONe....

A shout out to LPD (Grovenut).  I started using his PCB (Solaris), and a big improvement... It lets the layout be so comfortable.  I missed it a tiny bit on this one.  I need to move the jacks and stomp down about a 1/4 inch.  It is a tiny bit crowded.  But, definitely an improvement.

Of course, it sounds great too...

Thanks Law-- I appreciate all the help you have offered me..  MC

Beautiful build Mark! Realy nice workmanship! Keep up the awesome work!

[rocket8810]

Awesome job on the Klone Mark. It looks fantastic and super clean.

I finally had time this weekend to finish the build for the enclosure I etched last week. It's a modified Ezekiel 25:17.



And since I didn't post the insides for the last build, I figured I would post them for this one.

[Hexjibber]

That looks amazing dude! I've never had any success using translucent paint, which one did you use? Or was it a different method?

[rocket8810]

all the paint i'm using now is automotive paint. i etched what's black first, painted it, then sanded the whole box  with 800grit sandpaper to remove the high spots, but still leave some of the imperfections, whipped it down with rubbing alcohol, then painted the trans red, then gloss clear when i was finished. the tans red is the duplicolor stuff that's supposed to look like you had a part anodized, i think it's called metalcast.

it was a normal etch, so all that's black was etched into the pedal, what's now red is what was unetched. glad you like, i'm pretty happy with it  .

[Pettol]

Looks great Rocket!

[THX2112]

Just found this etch from last year when I quickly proto'd and built a drum trigger module and then forgot about until recently when I needed just such a module to help debug another module.

At the time of the etching I thought it was a failure and didn't think about it, but now it has a charm of it's own.





And here's a video of it in action. It's the unit towards the bottom of the screen providing the beat. (warning -- no guitars):

http://youtu.be/I8VH3VZtUj8

[287m]

THX2112, Great etch!!!

(y) (y) (y) (y)

[mfunky]

Hi,

here is my first etch. I used the more-or-less standard method for this etch:

• grind surface with 600 grain
• Print with high density on HP presentation paper
• Let iron sit on top for a minute
• Slowly iron for like 10 minutes
• let enclosure cool down
• put enclosure in luke warm water
• remove paper gently with the hard side of a kitchen sponge
• correct mask with nailpolish
• Etch: Put NaOH on enclosere, let rest for 5 minutes, move liquid with a plastic brush for another 5 minutes (agitate), repeat 4 times
• clean with steel wool
• spray paint black (solvent-based)
• grind flat (black remains in pits)
• clear coat (acrylic)

Toner transfer:
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Mask applied:
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Etching in Progress:
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Etched, Wiped:
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Etchted, Painted, Wiped again:
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Mounted:
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Guts:
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On the Pedalboard:
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