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Electro Engraving Problems

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RussellT:
My experience with circuit boards is that the best way to get toner to transfer is to buy the special paper (Press n Peel is one brand) - I know that's not the Mad Modder way - I've tried various stuff suggested on the web with little success.  I haven't tried Ade's vinyl method.  Even with the special paper I try to keep tracks as wide as I can and I think your letters may be a bit thin.

I've never tried etching aluminium but it sounds as though your laser method might work with copper or brass.

Good luck.

Russell

vtsteam:
Thanks for the suggestions guys! Yes I think purchasing some vinyl or other special purpose transfer media is probably what I'll need to do to make that work.

I don't think I'll buy a laminator, because I don't see myself needing to do this kind of thing much, and I have so little storage and an extremely small shop. I used to have good luck with printed circuit boards just using the photoresist method and a normal printout on paper, face down and exposed through. Not that I often do any printed circuit work at all these days.

I think one of the biggest problems in these methods for me is the needed fineness of the lettering.

Just listening to the laminator successes makes me think that the real problem is insufficient pressure. Maybe it's insufficient heat, but I kind of doubt it because the laser printer instruction manual mentions that media must be able to withstand 400 degrees (F) so that seems to be the temperature used by the laser to fuse the pigment. It seems to me that the iron is getting up to that..... well I don't know. Maybe it isn't. I should check.

I'm sure that all the etchants and electrolytes mentioned will work, given proper time temperture and agitation. I chose the vinegar and salt because it seemed to work on all metals shown in the following video -- steel copper brass, aluminum and stainless steel. The actual stylus etching method shown didn't make a lot of sense to me (vs bath immersion) except for the stainless cup -- or where large size makes it impractical to immerse. But I think it's a worthwhile video.

awemawson:
You used to be able to buy spray on photo resist, and indeed pre-coated pcb's with UV sensitive resist already on then - I have some in a drawer but if they are any good now I very much doubt,

I have a complete set up for the job - UV light box, and a 'PCB Lab' - that develops, etches and tin plates PCB, but I've not used it for donkey's years - it even incorporates the kitchen sink  :lol:

If anyone is dead keen to set themselves up get in touch as it's just taking up space.

This is it, made by Mega :

vtsteam:
lots of stuff for photo resist still available:

https://www.ebay.com/b/photoresist/bn_7024915100

And a video showing DIY methods of producing circuit boards that way:

AdeV:
I figured I'd have a really quick go at etching an offcut of ali plate I had lying around this morning.... so, quick print job, print to vinyl, abuse the laminator to transfer; it worked ish, I got about 98% of the toner across - the ali wasn't perfect, having a few dents & vice marks in it, which didn't help; then set it up in a mystery strength solution of sodium hydroxide. All was going well for a bit, but then the etching undercut the thin letters & they all floated off! Also, some of the etchant got underneath the thicker lines in a couple of places, so the result was extremely meh....

So... instead of doing a productive day's work, I scratched my head & thought about the problem.... and I think I may have a solution. Unfortunately, for the majority of people, it's not going to work because you need a couple of specific pieces of workshop equipment which few will have....  I'm thinking, I'll use my CNC engraver to carve the message (or whatever) into a plate. I can then use my falling die spark eroder to "engrave" the opposite onto a sheet of metal - i.e. leave raised letters. If the engraved text is deep enough, I shouldn't lose any definition over the, say, 20 thou/0.5mm depth I'd anticipate engraving.

I reckon that's got to be worth wasting a weekend trying!  :palm:

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