Etched enclosures

[peterg]

Poppyman - love your work!

[Schizo910]

Finished it... La Giovane Anima.

[tubegeek]

Finished it... La Giovane Anima.

Sweet. And I am also jealous of that nifty old folding magnifier!

[deadastronaut]

@giovanni:

what are you using to do your graphics?..

you need to use vector type graphics, (inkscape) exported to pdf to get ''clean unbroken edges''

for a neater etch...

[Schizo910]

  I'm a graphic designer and illustrator by trade, so I use Adobe illustratorCS.

I really think it has to do with not getting thick enough toner on the enclosure... I'm using an older Kyocera laserprinter.

I'm almost giving up on etching I've used a waterslide decal on my latest pedal

[poppyman]

thanks, peterg!

[Maik]

I'm a graphic designer and illustrator by trade, so I use Adobe illustratorCS.

I really think it has to do with not getting thick enough toner on the enclosure... I'm using an older Kyocera laserprinter.

I'm almost giving up on etching I've used a waterslide decal on my latest pedal

Why not trying an other way? As a grafic designer do you have some conection to printers like screen printers or pre press people (for perfect transparents)?
They are doing it with a transparent and uv light. This gives much better and reproducing results.
Try out some uv positive photoresist. There is one in Europe as a spray. The spray isn´t very good and you have to cover a lot of small holes.
Take it as a thick paste and roll it with a linoleum roller like this one (hope it´s ok to post a amason link)
http://www.amazon.de/Linolwalze-Metallgriff-Gummiwalze-120-mm/dp/B008PCWTAO/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1394744972&sr=8-4&keywords=Linolwalze
under yellow light or something like this
http://www.amazon.de/UV-Schutzfolie-f%C3%BCr-Leuchtstoffr%C3%B6hren-alternative-Gelblicht/dp/B00AXPKQBK/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1394745073&sr=8-11&keywords=gelblicht
Lay the transparent over the box and do it with uv light. 2-5min.
To generate an etchable surface throw it in
http://www.amazon.de/Kemo-Entwickler-KEMO-fotopositive-Platinen/dp/B000YIYM2K/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394745292&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=platinenentwickler
Water it, dry it with a hair dryer and if the paste is a good one and there was no daylight or uv during the rolling there will be 2-5 small holes not hundreds as with toner method.
And lines can be very thin :-) like this one
https://app.box.com/s/93xoffnm8739uz4qeuh1

[poppyman]

If you use press'n'blue peel, a good old office's or copyshop's toner copy machine would do the trick.

[Schizo910]

Maik, I do have some contacts, but I realy like the process of doing it on my own, finding my way. I could ask for help, but I just want to be able to do it here in my studio with the tools that I have... I will look into those photoresist methods you mention, thanks!

Poppyman, I haven't been able to find press'n'blue peel in my surroundings...

[bungusbeefcake]

Couple of my latest:

@FrequencyCentral: Where did you get those protectors for the tubes?? Would love to get my hands on something like that!!

[alparent]

Latest etch for a Suhr Riot clone

How do you do your artwork?
Pure talent?

[electricgrave]

Couple of my latest:

@FrequencyCentral: Where did you get those protectors for the tubes?? Would love to get my hands on something like that!!

you can get them on ebay
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Tube-Guard-Protector-PreAmp-Silver-12AX7-12AU7-6922-5687-ECC82-ECC81-6N11-/400679865738?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item5d4a618d8a

[Hexjibber]

How do you do your artwork?
Pure talent?

Ha, no alas I can't lay claim to the art itself, they're usually just Google finds that I trace into Illustrator. This one for example was an image I found for which I then made a background and added a fitting font for the labels. This method can be somewhat restrictive though if I have an idea in my head, I am planning on doing my own hand drawn art which I can then trace into Illustrator.

[alparent]

OK thanks.....glad to know it's not just pure talent.......that means I have a glimpse of hope!

I don't have Illustrator but I do work with Inkscape. Should be able to do the same thing with that.

What do you mean you "trace"?

[greaser_au]

http://www.amazon.de/Kemo-Entwickler-KEMO-fotopositive-Platinen/dp/B000YIYM2K/ref=sr_1_sc_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394745292&sr=8-2-spell&keywords=platinenentwickler

When working with aluminium boxen, care needs to be taken here, many of these PCB etch resist developers are 90%+ caustic soda (sodium hydroxide, NaOH), which just LOVES aluminium

david

[Hexjibber]

OK thanks.....glad to know it's not just pure talent.......that means I have a glimpse of hope!

I don't have Illustrator but I do work with Inkscape. Should be able to do the same thing with that.

What do you mean you "trace"?

If you already work with vectors then that's half the battle if you ask me! Tracing is just where you import a JPEG, Bitmap or other rasterised image into Illustrator/Inkscape and convert it to a vector image. Pretty sure Inkscape has similar function to Illustrator in that regard so you should be ok.

If you have any questions just let me know and I'll do my best to help!

[haveyouseenhim]

I am proud to announce that I am now a member of the enclosure etching club 

[Jdansti]

Nice job!

[bluebunny]

I am proud to announce that I am now a member of the enclosure etching club 

You're getting pretty accurate with the lead shot, Mike!  Nice job - looks great.

[deadastronaut]

+1 came out cool man...