Etched enclosures

[Mustachio]

Thanks guys!

John thanks for the tip! I wish i woulda known a few days ago.

Ut oh on the clothes i know some dropped on my shoe , luckily I'm a pretty poor dresser so nothing ruined that matters.

I looked up some new info on gloves ill post later in a diff thread but its great info for working with chemicals.

thanks for the kind words, Any one have any more tips on masking the sides of the box during an etch and what etch-ant your using with your method of masking.

[Pettol]

Mustachio, Loved your etch!

Sodium hydroxide is my first choice for etching. Masking is a bit of a problem though. I have had bad experience with tape (the enchant kept getting under it, starting etching areas I didn't even see) and normal paint doesn't work (paint remover is basically sodium hydroxide ). I am now evaluating UV curable ink, which appears to be very alkali resistant. Paint for metal roofs may also work, though I haven't tried it.
And, one does not have to sand off the masking paint (appears to be a common opinion). Just put the whole thing in acetone or ethyl acetate for a while. :-)

[deadastronaut]

+1,  looks great, even without paint etc....nice n shiney...

never been a fan of those knobs, but they do look cool on this...,  ..nice.

[Arcane Analog]

Nice aluminum knobs would kick it up a notch for sure.

[Mustachio]

Haha you know I thought the same thing about the knobs but I couldn't find my bag of black Davies. The cream ones didn't look right and the aluminium ones covered the labeling. But these don't look half bad on this, they match the black jacks.

You know the Sodium hydroxide does seem to eat up ink and paper well. My first test was pouring a small amount over a my name I wrote in sharpie marker. It instantly dissolved the marker. And ate away at the aluminium fast. It seems to work faster when submerged then when dabbed on slowly in small amounts.

I think Rob mentioned earlier black electrical tape, gonna have to try that next. Cause plastic seems to be ok , ill test it on the side first and see what it does to the tape on its own. masking tape though is a no go.

Thanks for the ups on the look of the case. I used a high speed makita buffer! I like the metal on metal look no paint. The only problem I'm having with it so far is fitting the pcb in the case. The 0.39u cap I got from tayda is Gigantic, and so far going through my parts the closest I have is a .33u thats small enough. Ill figure it out in the next few days and maybe do a video demo. I been itching to try a Klon style pedal, This is Madbeans Kingslayer self etched from his pdf. Can't wait to try it, I used some black glass diodes from Chromesphere , and 2 diff germanium diodes.

What I was trying to do with this design layout was get both positive and negative etch styles with the text for the pedal name and the controls. The controls being sunk down and the name being embossed up. Was neat and wasn't sure how things would turn out etching with positive developer solution made for developing pre-sensitized pcb's.

[Mustachio]

I got like 40 aluminum knobs at the moment but the controls labeling is to close for them they get half covered. But black davies might work if I can find the bag I have of them. The more I look at these knobs the more they look like upside down garbage cans! hahaha

[kupervaser]

I usually use stikky-backed plastic, like for covering school books. seeing as I don't have a laser printer, I usually have to cut my mask, through the sticky back, with an exacto knife. what a bastard. and I've got two of them to do now.

kupervaser, pardon my saying, but I like how you've made (such) a crappy finish look (so) good.

Thanks, however I was aiming for something else. The thing is, when I sand the enclosure after painting I also remove the paint form the etched parts, which is not what I want, but I have not been able to avoide this.

[ch1naski]

I usually use stikky-backed plastic, like for covering school books. seeing as I don't have a laser printer, I usually have to cut my mask, through the sticky back, with an exacto knife. what a bastard. and I've got two of them to do now.

kupervaser, pardon my saying, but I like how you've made (such) a crappy finish look (so) good.

Thanks, however I was aiming for something else. The thing is, when I sand the enclosure after painting I also remove the paint form the etched parts, which is not what I want, but I have not been able to avoide this.

Are you using a stiff sanding block?

[davent]

Would running a bead of silicone caulk along the edge of the tape prevent etchant seepage, would it resisit the etchant or would the etchant dissolve it as well?

[Jdansti]

^ NaOH is compatible with silicone. You can check NaOH's compatability with some other materials here:
http://www.coleparmer.com/Chemical-Resistance

[Mustachio]

Nice link John!

After spilled a bit of NaoH on my hand my friend sent me this link. 

http://www.northwestern.edu/uservices/docs/labs/SafetyTrainer_gloveselection.pdf

good info there too.

I need to buy a new box of gloves!

[ch1naski]

So...180 grit sandpaper for pre-etch, 2000 grit post-etch? Is that the consensus? Going to grab some in a while today.

[deadastronaut]

yeah i go with 180 to really key the mutha up...

then 400-600---but finer will be ok too, it'll just be shinier..

[glops]

Great etches, kupervaser and mustachio!

[Hexjibber]

@mustachio Great etch, love the design!

yeah i go with 180 to really key the mutha up...

That's interesting, I've been doing 400->800->1200->1500->2000 pre-etch so it's super smooth as I thought that was the idea? Does a rougher surface help with the transfer then? Would much rather do that than spend 30 mins sanding with all the various grades beforehand!

Still having a few teething problems with etching, mainly that I keep smudging the mask during transfer, have I been applying too much pressure perhaps? Do you guys just go over lightly with the iron? I've been pressing down quite hard.

Also I tried submerging the box in sodium hydroxide but I think I must have made the solution too strong (about 50%) as the reaction was pretty violent and this was the result after about a minute and half! Didn't come out anywhere near as clean as I wanted so back to the drawing board I think!

[deadastronaut]

hi hex:

180 gives the toner a better grip imo...

as for smudging,  i used to tape the transfer to the box so it can't move..(but got sick of hot glue from tape sticking to sides etc)..but now i just place it where it should be and put the iron on one end of the transfer so it sticks (holding the transfer)

and then pull the iron over the rest of it....remember the ally boxes get really hot, pretty quick...so you don't need to iron for very long really...(i use hottest setting on iron)


delay lama..

[Hexjibber]

Ok thanks Rob I'll give that a go next time. I've been sticking it down with tape, then just leaving the iron on top for a minute, then going round the whole mask pressing quite hard with the edge of the iron for about 10 mins, seems like I might have been overdoing it?

[ch1naski]

Delay lama. That is sweet.

Does the magazine paper trick work on boxes? I tried to transfer yesterday, that ink just sat on the paper, would not transfer at all. I'm using the laser printer at work, so maybe I'll have to bring some glossy paper in with me....

Will inkjet photo paper work, as long as laser printer is used?

[deadastronaut]

yep glossy magazine paper works a treat.....has to be shiney though...not matt...try and find a page without much colour on it...just text etc..

do you have access to the printer settings?...turn toner saver off, print at best quality. dark.

not sure on inkjet glossy paper...

[duck_arse]

kupervaser, I'm still trying to think of a way to do a colour filled etch with a painted panel. I can only think to spray the panel, stick on the mask, and sand through the exposed paint. then etch and spray the fill colour. I'm not sure it will work too well, though, might end up with that 'special' look, like your pedal.

Hexjibber, try filling that delay lama with diff colors of paint, you might end up with something real good. 70's burnt orange dot swirls?