Etching without a laser printer

[guitarify]

So, I don't have a laser printer, but wanted to try etching an enclosure.
One idea I had was waterslides. Give them a few good coats of poly or lacquer before applying them. Anyone tried this or have other methods?
I know some markers will work but I was hoping to find a method with more precision.

[Mark Hammer]

The trick to doing any sort of etching with fewer problems is to avoid getting "finger juice" on the material you want to etch, be it copper or aluminum.  So, while you can certainly draw directly on an aluminum chassis , in order to provide a pattern, you need to be careful that any surfaces you want to etch remain clean.

[JKowalski]

Etch resist pens and sharpies do not work well on aluminum anyways. They won't protect for very long. Usually in my experience they will cease to have any effect after the first few seconds of immersion... even though they work fine with copper...

I have no advice otherwise... for some reason I can never get even thick laser printer toner to adhere well to my boxes, when the process works fine on copper. Drives me crazy considering the number of times I've tried it + the number of things I have tried + the perfection that some people obtain easily using the same steps that I do. I think my next experiment will have to be photoresist...

[Labaris]

Etch resist pens and sharpies do not work well on aluminum anyways. They won't protect for very long. Usually in my experience they will cease to have any effect after the first few seconds of immersion... even though they work fine with copper...

I have no advice otherwise... for some reason I can never get even thick laser printer toner to adhere well to my boxes, when the process works fine on copper. Drives me crazy considering the number of times I've tried it + the number of things I have tried + the perfection that some people obtain easily using the same steps that I do. I think my next experiment will have to be photoresist...

Try to sand down (is that the right way to say it?) more and more before starting with the funny part of the work, that's critical


And guitarify, i.m.o. if you want machine-precission then you need a machine to print your designs.

[JKowalski]

Etch resist pens and sharpies do not work well on aluminum anyways. They won't protect for very long. Usually in my experience they will cease to have any effect after the first few seconds of immersion... even though they work fine with copper...

I have no advice otherwise... for some reason I can never get even thick laser printer toner to adhere well to my boxes, when the process works fine on copper. Drives me crazy considering the number of times I've tried it + the number of things I have tried + the perfection that some people obtain easily using the same steps that I do. I think my next experiment will have to be photoresist...

Try to sand down (is that the right way to say it?) more and more before starting with the funny part of the work, that's critical

And guitarify, i.m.o. if you want machine-precission then you need a machine to print your designs.

Yeah, that all falls under the category of "number of things I have tried". Sanding coarsely/fine/mirror-like, alcohol/chemical washing before transfer, even a very light bare etch... Different heat settings, multiple layers of toner ink from 1-3, about 5 different types of paper glossy/magazine like/transparencies... Different combinations of all the above...

I ended up realizing the only variable that I have never changed was my toner cartridge + printer, and so, dejected, I have made do with wishy-washy dirty etches seeing no other way out and being ridiculously annoyed with the process. I am getting a new printer in a week though so I'll have to see what kind of a difference that makes.

[electrosonic]

Do you have an inkjet printer? My brother laser printer doesn't work well with press and peel, so I print out my artwork on paper and photocopy it onto press and peel with a good quality photocopier (Kinko's works for me)

A.

[MoltenVoltage]

kodak photo paper with a laser jet works great - i found a brother laser jet last xmas for $49 that works perfectly

the big secret is to pre-heat the copper with a blank piece of the photo paper in between the iron and the pcb (after sanding it first)

then you put the printed version down, but get it right because it will stick right away

then iron the hell out of it for 3-5 minutes, but if you go too long it will melt too much and start spreading out, so not too much!

then throw it in cold water for about 5 minutes and the paper comes off like a banana peel - no hassle!

etch, drill, enjoy!

good luck!

edit - sorry - i didn't really get the heading of the post until after i typed - anyway there are dirt cheap laser printers out there and the toner is perfect for etching, so head to the thrift store and find one!

[alparent]

I found that the toner makes all the difference.

I have a Samsung printer and with the original toner cartridge all was wonderful. Perfect etchings.

My cartridge ran out so I got a "compatible" one and now I can't even get the toner to stick to the enclosure.

I could always get another original cartridge (a 110$ cartridge for a 90$ printer...... I think not!)

I tried the printer at church....the one at the office......but nothing is as good as what I had before.

I believe toner in the key!

[JKowalski]

kodak photo paper with a laser jet works great - i found a brother laser jet last xmas for $49 that works perfectly

the big secret is to pre-heat the copper with a blank piece of the photo paper in between the iron and the pcb (after sanding it first)

then you put the printed version down, but get it right because it will stick right away

then iron the hell out of it for 3-5 minutes, but if you go too long it will melt too much and start spreading out, so not too much!

then throw it in cold water for about 5 minutes and the paper comes off like a banana peel - no hassle!

etch, drill, enjoy!

good luck!

edit - sorry - i didn't really get the heading of the post until after i typed - anyway there are dirt cheap laser printers out there and the toner is perfect for etching, so head to the thrift store and find one!

Yeah, I think I may have knocked the thread off of it's track a little bit, sorry.

Tried preheating in the exact way you described too   

[guitarify]

OK, so I need a laser printer.
I looked around and found that cheap Brother one that Moltan mentioned. There's a nicer one that has built in wireless for $109 on Amazon at the moment, but my brother has one and said they frequently go on sale for much less.
I was going to ask the people having success etching what brand they were using but it already seems confirmed that the Brother one is capable. It does seem like the type of toner may make a difference.
http://www.amazon.com/Brother-HL-2170W-Printer-Wireless-Interfaces/dp/B0010Z3LGO/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1285853607&sr=1-1

[darron]

the old was was to put a thin coating of wax on the metal, then scratch away were you want the acid to etch... (:

if you don't have a laser printer, then you can just use a LASER too..

[alparent]

You can do it without a laser printer.......but to do PNP or any other toner transfer......you need toner.
Si it's ether laser print or photocopier.

[Skruffyhound]

@ JKowalski, photoresist does work, but it doesn't like the heat of the reaction very much. which means light etches or lots of cooling.
This product : http://www.megauk.com/pcb_chemicals.php
I think I can get even better results but for the moment I'm sidetracked working on a completely different product that I believe will produce halftones. Good luck.