Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Etching Artwork on to Metal
L. Hanson
>I just put up an article on my web site that some here might hopefully find interesting:
Experimenting with Etching Artwork onto Steel
It's similar to Sandor's post from earlier this month, but I try a little different method. I had somewhat mixed results with the process, but thought it might be educational, at the least.
Leif
Re: Etching Artwork on to Metal
Dan Donaldson
>Very nice. At work we used to make quite a few PW boards for prototypes. We used a spray on resist that was UV sensitive. You might want to try that, it works pretty well. You make a transparency of the artwork, expose it to uv, then wash off the part that was not exposed and etch it the same way you did there. You can use sunlight to do the exposure if you don't have a UV light, just takes a bit longer. Of course, it would not work here in Michigan except once in awhile in the summer as we don't ever get any sunlight. ;-)
There are also some photoresists that can be brushed on I believe. It is possible to get some nice detail with the photo process.
Look real nice Leif...
Scott Burr in rainy Ben Lomond,CA
>As Dan said, a lot like etching a printed circuit board. Turn out nice. Are you going into business?
Alternate source for Etching Artwork on to Metal *LINK*
Sandor in Bear, DE
>I love it! Since this is a forum about tools....I have to confess that I haven't made anything from wood in a few years, but I have made lots of tools!
For anyone who in interested, here is a link to a source for UV imaged and chemically developed resist film. I used this material on my saws and it works well. Search the archives for art chemicals and you'll have access to everything you need.
http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=83130
sandor
Photo Resist Source
Re: Alternate source for Etching Artwork on to Met
L. Hanson
>Thanks, Sandor!
BTW - another source for photo-resist, if you want to get into it whole-hog - you can buy 12" x 50 foot rolls (and longer) from this company:
Stock# DF10-M115-001
Leif
Another good source... *LINK*
David Barnett
>...is Cronite (www.cronite.com). They supply two strengths of ferric chloride and best of all, Cronite steel etching acid, a hand etchant which allows subtle artistic effects when brushed or quilled, esp. if you prefer your own bookhand variants to packaged printer fonts. It has superbly controlled bite characteristics. Use a decent magnifier to see what's going on*; different times for different tools, steels, and so on. Leave it on a little longer to excavate locking undercuts for gold and silver wire inlay, for example. A bottle lasts a long time.
[The usual caveat: Use carefully and get safety instruction in direct etching if you're new to this. Proper eye and skin protection is a must, and don't forget to protect clothes and furniture, too.]
*I recommend a 3.5 power (not diopter) aspheric hand lens with both raking light and overhead flood.
Chronite Etching Supplies
Re: Etching Artwork on to Metal
Skip in Falls Church
>Hi Lief,
Really pretty! You and Sandor are making me think etching too!
Skip