Fun with photo etching

[Steamer Al]

Here's a couple pics of my first attempt at doing a little photo etching. I used the blue iron on transfer paper and hydrogen peroxide/muriatic acid for the etching process. Turned out ok for a first try, hardest part seems to be getting good clean lines on the paper transfer.

The origional aim for this little launch engine build was something reasonably easy to build, using as much easily obtainable hardware and stock materials as possible out of my "scrap pile". The more highly detailed models I see... The more little details my engine gets and the longer the build, but its all good fun!

Alex

[Pontiacguy1]

That ain't bad. How deep did your etching go?

[Rick]

Alex,
Looks good
I have done some photo etching. I used the spray on resist. Also had edges that were not sharp and clean.
Found out the when I printed my design on transparent film the thickness of the film when developing let the light bleed under the art work. I then printed the artwork reversed so that the printed side of the transparency was against the resist. This brought about very good results.

[Steamer Al]

That ain't bad. How deep did your etching go?

I etched it for 1.5 hours and it came out .010 deep. Probably could have done with a little longer although some of the more ragged edges may have stuck out a little more so I guess its a bit of a trade off.

Alex

[Steamer Al]

Alex,
Looks good
I have done some photo etching. I used the spray on resist. Also had edges that were not sharp and clean.
Found out the when I printed my design on transparent film the thickness of the film when developing let the light bleed under the art work. I then printed the artwork reversed so that the printed side of the transparency was against the resist. This brought about very good results.

That looks great Rick! Ill have to look into the spray on resist. Any idea how deep you got? What kind of acid did you use?

Cheers

Alex

[jcfx]

Ferric chloride is my etchant of choice, same stuff used for etching circuit boards.

You guys should try the photoresist film, much finer lines, but it's a fiddly to get on the material
to be etched since it need to be ironed on and evenly, it also needs UV light to harden.
I used a darkroom contact printing frame ink jet printed negatives and the sun till I made a UV light box.
The spray might be a an interesting item to try, what exposes the spray resist, I guess washing soda is
used for getting rid of the unexposed resist ?

in my picture, clockwise, the blue plate is the photoresist film, it's a reject there wasn't a good contact during
so one corner exposure and was soft, the elecrovoice plate was also a reject, the resist started to lift
from the Ferric Chloride reaction to aluminum, the thin brass was a paint mask , sandwiched and registered negatives, complete etch thru.

[Steamer Al]

Ferric chloride is my etchant of choice, same stuff used for etching circuit boards.

You guys should try the photoresist film, much finer lines, but it's a fiddly to get on the material
to be etched since it need to be ironed on and evenly, it also needs UV light to harden.
I used a darkroom contact printing frame ink jet printed negatives and the sun till I made a UV light box.
The spray might be a an interesting item to try, what exposes the spray resist, I guess washing soda is
used for getting rid of the unexposed resist ?

in my picture, clockwise, the blue plate is the photoresist film, it's a reject there wasn't a good contact during
so one corner exposure and was soft, the elecrovoice plate was also a reject, the resist started to lift
from the Ferric Chloride reaction to aluminum, the thin brass was a paint mask , sandwiched and registered negatives, complete etch thru.
etch examples.jpg

Interesting jcfx, is the "press and peel blue" paper you're using? I used that with a lazer printer. I found the best way of ironing it on was actually to place the part face down on the film, and iron the back of it. The idea was an 1/8" thick slab of brass would probably come up to temperature more evenly that way, and avoid localized over temp issues I was having with the iron directly on the film.

Alex

[Bill Shields]

I could tell a story about an two guys using an aluminum boat in a ferric chloride pond...but it would be a very short story.

[jcfx]

The weapon of my choice now is the photo resist film, I find that it gives me cleaner results
less pinhole spotting and sharper lines. My only gripes are that in making the negative the inkjet blacks
are not truly opaque ( it's on my list to go back to ortho litho photographic film), and while the photo resist film
can be applied by hand the film is so thin that I have resorted to a document laminator, to get bubble free application.
Luckily I don't do thicker plates !

I've used Press N' Peel Blue for many years, my procedure was similar like yours but reverse, I pre heat
the part, roll the PnP onto the hot plate then burnish it down before I use the iron on the back of the PnP blue
with a slip sheet ( paper towel, clean copy paper ).

No affiliation but this is the photo resist film I use -
Amazon link


Rick,
Do you have a source for the spray photoresist ?

[jcfx]

I could tell a story about an two guys using an aluminum boat in a ferric chloride pond...but it would be a very short story.

And a very hot one ( temp wise ) too !

[apm]

Anyone who doesn't want to play with really nasty chemicals I would recommend these guys. http://ppdltd.com/

I had looked into doing photo etching at home years ago and concerned Ferric Chloride wasn't something I wanted around the house or to deal with. I get great service from ppd, at a reasonable cost, and they're used to our market.

About the only nice thing with doing your etching at home is being able to etch out your own machined part as was posted here but I am not sure dealing with hazardous chemicals you can't just throw away is worth it?

I think I would be more inclined to get my CNC milling machine up and running and engrave before I do home etching but maybe others don't find the stuff to be so bad to deal with?

What are the fumes like will they damage the tools in your shop the way working with acid solder flux can?

Those who do etch at home what are your expectations with Ferric Chloride and what do you do with the spent waste?

[Steamer Al]

The weapon of my choice now is the photo resist film, I find that it gives me cleaner results
less pinhole spotting and sharper lines. My only gripes are that in making the negative the inkjet blacks
are not truly opaque ( it's on my list to go back to ortho litho photographic film), and while the photo resist film
can be applied by hand the film is so thin that I have resorted to a document laminator, to get bubble free application.
Luckily I don't do thicker plates !

I've used Press N' Peel Blue for many years, my procedure was similar like yours but reverse, I pre heat
the part, roll the PnP onto the hot plate then burnish it down before I use the iron on the back of the PnP blue
with a slip sheet ( paper towel, clean copy paper ).

No affiliation but this is the photo resist film I use -
Amazon link


Rick,
Do you have a source for the spray photoresist ?

Thanks Jcfx, I will certainly keep that in mind for thinner parts!