AxAxSxS wrote:deathmonkey wrote:AxAxSxS wrote:I'm glad this is being resurrected. Anyone want to take on the job of etching enclosures?
Since I etched the originals, I can etch these guys for people that want things etched. It may be a lot of shipping back and forth for folks that want it, but i can try to minimize what i charge to basically cost for this project.
Full disclaimer though: I have a bum knee that I just had surgery on a week ago and the wife just was in a car accident and broke her leg. I will be a little slow to get them done, but would be more than happy to help the doom brotherhood.
Ouch! Hope you both heal up quick!
I stumbled across an article on etching using salt water and electricity. I may give it a shot. sounds like not crazy difficult.
Have you ever used that method?
Regardless of my level of success at that I think most would want a box etched by you. Even if I manage to get it right I would not be prepared to do large batches.
Thanks man. I'm doing alright, I have etched some things, I just had to rearrange my set up a bit. I am actually healing surprisingly quickly. My surgery was the 3rd, and the drs said they would be happy if i could bend my knee 90 degrees by this point, and I can get 120+ So i am on the mend. The wife is going to be a longer, slower recovery. I appreciate the sympathies.
I've not done the salt water etching, but i just read up on it. everything up to dipping it is identical to my process. (i use a pcb transfer paper to do mine... when i first started, i got way more detail to transfer with that paper.) transferring the mask is the longest step in the process.
Chemistry soapbox, feel free to skip if you don't care.Essentially, the salt water, FeCl2 and CuO/Cl etchant all do the exact same thing. You are oxidizing the surface of the material you are etching. Basically you need a proton from SOMEWHERE in acidic solutions you get it from the acid itself but you have: metal + H+ -> metal+ + H When the electron transfers from the metal to the hydrogen atom, you start to form H2 gases. The Metal+ ions will generally start to react with the anion in solution this wipes away.
Eveyone has their way. From reading the one article i read, the salt water etching technique takes WAY longer to etch than the rest (HOURS!). Once in solution, I am generally done with a single pedal in a few minutes. The real kicker is, the stuff i make and use, and the FeCl2 etchant that many folks use (and is usually what people buy when they buy etchant) is far more dangerous to handle than the salt water technique. to most people, chemistry is sort of voodoo, and the thought of a chemical burn doesn;t sound pleasant, so people shy away from the whole process. If that is your boat, try out the salt water version. It may be awesome!
