Etched enclosures

[Jdansti]

Nice tip John! You always have great info man! Gonna check the fridge for some baking soda and try this on a box soon!

Must have been all of those Home-Ec classes I took in place of gym...

[deadastronaut]

@guitarmageddon:

ha ha excellent...

[mg.audio]

I love the look of etching, but before I try this I have one question: does etching weaken the structure of the enclosures enough to worry about crushing them with your foot when you step on the footswitch? (just in case one ever finds its way onto the floor in front of a lead-footed rock musician)

[poppyman]

I don't know for the other "etchers" here, but I did a bunch of etches and some went really out of control (bubbles, fumes, splashes) and I got pretty deep etched boxes.
If you're using the hammond type boxes, I don't think it would make them more flimsy even with a VERY deep etch. The box would probably get eaten up pretty badly if you would leave it in the etchant for WAY too long but before it happens, a lot of weird, stinky, smoky stuff will warn you and encourage you to stop the process before it's too late. Try on the bottom plate if you're not sure.

[ch1naski]

Well, here's my final product. I really like the whole thing with etching. I plan on doing many more. I went and blew a couple hundred dollars on an hp laser printer, so my fingers are crossed that the next will go more smoothly.

Jon Patton's clipper ship.

[poppyman]

over al!, it looks really good: pretty great for a 1st attempt!!! 

Maybe you could have "fix" the toner transfer flaws with nail polish or correcting fluid or any etch resistant masking matter and improve it a bit. It's pretty hard to get a 100% completely flawless transfert.

[deadastronaut]

+1:

if you get 'pitting' dab the paint in where you want it to go with a brush, rather than spraying and filling up the 'piited' bits...

hope ya new printer is ok..


@poppyman, the only time i had fizzing and steam was when i used a really hot water ferric mix...did a great etch, but was a little corncerning seeing it react a bit violently..

ferric likes a bit of heat though....

[poppyman]

@ deadastronaut:
it happened to me when I did my first "reversed" etch. I followed my usual etch routine, but there was much more aluminum exposed, especially because at some point, the etchant overflowed and went into the box instead of being only on the outside. The FeCl was straight from the bottle, so it got really hot really quick, it boiled and relase a really dreadful smoke.

I panicked and flushed the acid bucket with the water bucket to stop it.
Very scary and probably not good for my health
Somehow I think when a lot of aluminum is exposed the solution and the box get hot really fast so it gets into a "spiral".
Now, I dilute the solution when I do a reversed etch and wear gloves, a mask and goggles, even for something small. I don't want that to happen ever again.

[deadastronaut]

yeah i think your right on that, ferric seems to like a lot of exposed area to bite into ...

my reversed etches always seem to go well...

[ch1naski]

over al!, it looks really good: pretty great for a 1st attempt!!! 

Maybe you could have "fix" the toner transfer flaws with nail polish or correcting fluid or any etch resistant masking matter and improve it a bit. It's pretty hard to get a 100% completely flawless transfert.

Thanks.
I have seen some pretty near-flawless-looking etches around here, I don't know how these guys do it.

[Hexjibber]

Already posted this in the pics thread but anyway;

D*A*M Meathead clone with increased input and output cap values for extra girth! Not as fancy as my last effort but I like the rough industrial look of it, named after my favourite film!

[deadastronaut]

more rubbish from me ... phase 45 with mods to improve the sweep and for better use with distortion....proper unity etc.. ..i love this now!! 

red eye flashes with lfo speed ..green leds for on/off

[ch1naski]

I love the simplicity of that. the knob is also lighted?

[deadastronaut]

cheers, no i wish it was one of those led pots, but too pricey for 1 with delivery...

and nowhere to be found in the uk... ....unless anyone knows any different?

it catches the light from the greens though...a little..

[Hexjibber]

@ Deadastronaut

Nice man, very clean! I'm actually just about to start a Phase 45 build myself among other things, going to try a reverse etch for it, any tips?

[deadastronaut]

have a border....or tape up the sides really well..

tip on the phaser build, use 100k's instead of 150k's...put a 220k on output, and a 14.7k on IC1B Instead of 10K.

use a 1M pot for ultra slow sweep too....

[Hexjibber]

have a border....or tape up the sides really well..

tip on the phaser build, use 100k's instead of 150k's...put a 220k on output, and a 14.7k on IC1B Instead of 10K.

use a 1M pot for ultra slow sweep too....

Thanks man, I'll have a go at those, nice one!

[ch1naski]

have a border....or tape up the sides really well..

tip on the phaser build, use 100k's instead of 150k's...put a 220k on output, and a 14.7k on IC1B Instead of 10K.

use a 1M pot for ultra slow sweep too....

Hmm, I have a build done, maybe I'll rip it open and try those mods....
I also used a tri-color led, wired one anode for power-on, and the other two (green and blue) to the rate. Used a higher value clr for the power led, so when the rate is flashing, it's very noticeable.

[deadastronaut]

cool idea, i have a few bi coloureds about..always forget  have them..

[Hexjibber]

Already posted in main pics thread but really happy with how the etch turned out on this one. Tried my first reverse etch last night, seems like it's come out pretty good I think, will post results at a later date!