Etched enclosures

[Mika]

= Fuzz Factory =

[deadastronaut]

hands up who thinks mika should be banned..


nice work man.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

hands up who thinks mika should be banned..

Dont need anyone BANNED but, it would be nice if he shared some of his techniques to this DIY community. I have seen enough pictures in the last 3 days to know they are good.  

Or even sharing some insight on his circuits, build notes, etc.

I know you get more hits by putting up the pictures but DANG..... it is beauty overload now!  

[SmoothAction]

Half-Life logo FTW!!! 

[Jdansti]

Maybe there's a language barrier.

@Mika- Você fala Inglês?

[Mika]

Maybe there's a language barrier.

@Mika- Você fala Inglês?

yes... little  but enough to speak and understand

[Jdansti]

That is good.  You have a lot of nice pedals. Many of us would like to know how you get such clean etchings. Would you please let us know what chemicals you use?  Do you have any advice for getting good results? 

[Mika]

That is good.  You have a lot of nice pedals. Many of us would like to know how you get such clean etchings. Would you please let us know what chemicals you use?  Do you have any advice for getting good results? 

I use press-n-peel blue to transfer the design onto the can with iron. After using iron perchlorate.
http://www.banzaimusic.com/Press-n-Peel-Blue.html
http://www.banzaimusic.com/Ferrum-III-Chloride-1kg.html

[vigilante397]

So basically standard stuff a lot of people use, just with a lot of patience, creativity, and a steady hand 

[Alejandro B.]

Alreadey posted in 1590A thread... but it is also etched 

[Jdansti]

That is good.  You have a lot of nice pedals. Many of us would like to know how you get such clean etchings. Would you please let us know what chemicals you use?  Do you have any advice for getting good results? 

I use press-n-peel blue to transfer the design onto the can with iron. After using iron perchlorate.
http://www.banzaimusic.com/Press-n-Peel-Blue.html
http://www.banzaimusic.com/Ferrum-III-Chloride-1kg.html

Thanks, Mika. You do a great job with it!!!

[hylandren]

Mika - Thanks for sharing your beautiful etches and telling us what you use. Inspiring!
I too use PNP blue, but use Ferric Chloride as an etchant. Is Ferrum III Chloride easier to work with? Sharper edges?

Alejandro B - Great Croc/lizard skin etch, man!

[vigilante397]

Mika - Thanks for sharing your beautiful etches and telling us what you use. Inspiring!
I too use PNP blue, but use Ferric Chloride as an etchant. Is Ferrum III Chloride easier to work with? Sharper edges?

Ferrum III Chloride is just a different name for Ferric Chloride, they're the same thing. Ferrum is the Latin word for iron, Ferric is (in my understanding) the English adjective form. The chemical composition is FeCl3, thus Ferrum III Chloride.

[psychedelicfish]

Mika - Thanks for sharing your beautiful etches and telling us what you use. Inspiring!
I too use PNP blue, but use Ferric Chloride as an etchant. Is Ferrum III Chloride easier to work with? Sharper edges?

Ferrum III Chloride is just a different name for Ferric Chloride, they're the same thing. Ferrum is the Latin word for iron, Ferric is (in my understanding) the English adjective form. The chemical composition is FeCl3, thus Ferrum III Chloride.

You've almost got it.

When some chemicals react, some of the electrons from one reactant will swap over to the other reactant. This is so that the valence (outer) electron shell is completely full. Some elements (metals) need to get rid of a few electrons to get a full valence shell, whereas others (nonmetals on the right hand side of the periodic table) need to gain only a few electrons to get a full shell. Some elements, those on the column furthest to the right, already have a full valence shell nd thus will not react with anything (these are called noble gases). When these elements react and swap electrons, one element becomes positively charged (more protons in the nucleus than electrons in the electron shells) whereas the other element becomes negatively charged (more electrons in the electron shells than protons in the nucleus). These charged particles are called ions.

Just like magnetic fields of opposite polarities, these positively and negatively charged ions stick together, which is called an ionic bond. When you look at ionic bonds formed by elements in the middle of the periodic table, things start to get a bit messy. Elements like iron can lose either 2 or 3 electrons. Chemists have to differentiate between these two different iron ions, so they give them different names. Fe²⁺, or iron (II) is the iron ion that has lost 2 electrons, while Fe³⁺, or iron (III) is the one that has lost 3 electrons. There are older names for these different iron ions, Ferrous (Fe²⁺) and Ferric (Fe³⁺)

FeCl₃ has the Iron (III) ion in it, which is why it's called ferric chloride. Ferrum is the latin word for iron, as you said, so Ferrum (III) is the same as Iron (III) and Ferric.

Sorry about the chemistry lesson, BTW.

[hylandren]

vigilante397 and psychedelicfish thanks for the explanations.
Perhaps I should have already known that, but sadly, I am the product of a small rural Texas school system...

psychedelicfish, my thoughts while reading your explanation reminded me of a line from a Don Henley song: 
"She looked at me,
uncomprehendingly,
like a cow at a passing train."

[Jdansti]

>Sorry about the chemistry lesson, BTW.

But you didn't explain the d3 orbital geometry...

[garcho]

I love this forum.

I just found out the downtown Chicago library has a 3D printer and laser etching lab... 

[vigilante397]

I love this forum.

I just found out the downtown Chicago library has a 3D printer and laser etching lab... 

Pics or it didn't happen 

[Alejandro B.]

Since we´re talking about acids and finishes, I wanted to share my method and tools to etch. I´m going to make a quick guide, if someone needs more, let me know it and i´ll try to expand details:

- I begin with a quality negative of my desing printed in a laser printer. I go to a copy shop where I obtain quality copies in glossy paper, very similar to those used in quality gossip press  . I ask for glossy paper (not the kind used in photos, just glossy but still without that characteristic plastic feeling of photo papers. Hope you understand me).
- After wet sanding the enclosure with grain 360 and 500, I clean it with soap. You can use any product, but soap is good.
- Strong ironing going over the whole surface with the tip of the iron. I make all possible direcctions (vertical, horizontal, both diagonls) leaving the flat of the iron some minutes between each direcction.
- When I see all paper stick to the encluse I leave it to get cold before putting it into water.
- I leave it in water until it peels off alone.
- Remove all the cellulose with your finger and check everything have transferred ok.
- Steal nearer nail polish (can also be yours  ) and with a thin brush protect everything you can. Also make a border throughout the whole top of the enclosure to avoid acid leaks.
- Mix 1 part of nitirc acid (agua fuerte in Spain, stong liquid used to clean filthy things like forgotten baths  ) with 2 parts of 10% hydrogen peroxide (the one used to cure little wounds)
- Put it in each etchable part with a dropper. Don´t make lakes with acid, put what you need avoiding bubbles (if it bubbles means that you put too much)
- After 3-4 minutes remove the acid with a cottom ball and put new acid.
- Repeat this boredom for 1 hour and a quarter.
- In the last 20 minutes you can add more acid to the enclosure if you want a deep etch. But be carefull, the process at this stage can deceive you.
- Also in this last 20 minutes (more or less, with practice you "feel" what´s going on) you can use the cottom ball to remove part of the black stuff created due to the acid action. Helps to improve the depth.
- After all this is done, clean with water in a safe place (don´t spoil nothing or your wife/mother will have some words with you) and make sure that the etching has been depth enough.
- Clean the whole thing with several cotton balls coated with nail polish remover (the one with acetone)

After all this you can end in two ways:

- Paint in black (choose your color) all the etched areas, correct with wet sanding, polish and clear coat.
- Don´t paint the etched desings, clean it to the bone, polish and clear coat.

For polish I use my drill and those two famous compounds (the blue one and the brown one).

Hope it helps you as much as all tutorials in this forum have help me!!!

PS: Someone asked for a tutorial while I was writting mine... here it goes my humble experience.

[GGBB]

That washer looks downright acrylicious!  (The etch isn't so bad either   )