This is a technique that has been used by humans for a very long time.
Learn how to create a deep electro-etched metal plaque with household items or items from the hardware store in this Instructable. There are no hazardous chemicals (except dihydrogen monoxide and salts of sodium and chlorine), no dangerous voltages, and no toxic chemicals to dispose of. Be aware that the metal that disappears from your etched metal does end up in the water, so you will need to pay attention to any local laws about disposal of metal particulates.
This is a great technique that makes it really easy to go from virtual artwork of any type to a dimensional 3D surface. From there you can use it ti burnish and emboss paper, create molded items, make stamps, steam punk data plates, or anything else where you need to have 3D art from your 2D computer graphics artwork.
In this sample project, I will be creating the plaque from a 1/8" rectangle of brass as shown in the second photo.
So read on if this is something you would like to be able to do yourself.
Learn how to create a deep electro-etched metal plaque with household items or items from the hardware store in this Instructable. There are no hazardous chemicals (except dihydrogen monoxide and salts of sodium and chlorine), no dangerous voltages, and no toxic chemicals to dispose of. Be aware that the metal that disappears from your etched metal does end up in the water, so you will need to pay attention to any local laws about disposal of metal particulates.
This is a great technique that makes it really easy to go from virtual artwork of any type to a dimensional 3D surface. From there you can use it ti burnish and emboss paper, create molded items, make stamps, steam punk data plates, or anything else where you need to have 3D art from your 2D computer graphics artwork.
In this sample project, I will be creating the plaque from a 1/8" rectangle of brass as shown in the second photo.
So read on if this is something you would like to be able to do yourself.
Step 1: Here's What You'll Need
You will need the following items and supplies:
- Piece of brass, bronze, aluminum, steel or stainless steel, or any other metal
- Vector graphics program or other program to create the art for the CNC vinyl cutter
- CNC vinyl cutter
- Self-adhesive vinyl sheet for the vinyl cutter, any color is fine
- Tub large enough to hold your piece of metal
- Salt
- Water
- Battery charger or charged car battery (or other similar DC power supply of 5 to 10 amps or more)
- Wires to connect the power supply to the piece of metal
- Sacrificial piece of metal (preferably stainless steel, but any metal will work)
- Electrical tape
Step 2: Create the Artwork
Use your favorite vector graphics program to create the artwork. I used Adobe Illustrator, but you could use any vector-based design software including Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk 123D, Inkscape, or others. Any shapes you create will result in the raised areas on your finished plaque, and the areas where there is no artwork are the areas that will be etched away. Try not to make the details too small because the vinyl cutter doesn't really do a great job with tiny cuts.
You might need to perform an operation to convert any live text into vector outlines. The resulting artwork from this process is shown in the second photo.
The artwork shown is from my first pass through this project. Because the very tiny type of the tagline under the TechShop loco ("BUILD YOUR DREAMS HERE") and the "TM" by the letter "p" in the TechShop loco were peeling off on their own, I took those out of the artwork.
You might need to perform an operation to convert any live text into vector outlines. The resulting artwork from this process is shown in the second photo.
The artwork shown is from my first pass through this project. Because the very tiny type of the tagline under the TechShop loco ("BUILD YOUR DREAMS HERE") and the "TM" by the letter "p" in the TechShop loco were peeling off on their own, I took those out of the artwork.
Step 3: Cut the Mask with the Vinyl Cutter
Use the CNC vinyl cutter to create the vinyl mask. The exact procedure will depend on your particular vinyl cutter. After you have cut the vinyl, "weed" out the unwanted areas from the cut leaving only the parts of the artwork which will represent the un-etched areas or high areas on your plaque. After the unwanted areas are weeded away, place the backing sheet over the face of the vinyl mask and peel off the original vinyl backing sheet.
This vinyl cutter is at TechShop San Francisco, but all TechShop locations have a CNC vinyl cutter.
This vinyl cutter is at TechShop San Francisco, but all TechShop locations have a CNC vinyl cutter.
Step 4: Apply the Vinyl Mask to the Metal
Clean the metal completely and make sure it is dry. Apply the vinyl mask to the metal, burnish down all the pieces and peel off the backing sheet.
Instead of "weeding" the unwanted vinyl before you place it onto the target surface, you can also just apply the entire cut vinyl with the backing sheet, and then weed it after it is on the target surface. In this case, I found that to be much easier.
Instead of "weeding" the unwanted vinyl before you place it onto the target surface, you can also just apply the entire cut vinyl with the backing sheet, and then weed it after it is on the target surface. In this case, I found that to be much easier.
Step 5: Prepare the Metal for Etching
Connect a piece of wire to the back of the metal. You can do this with solder, an alligator clip, or by taping the stripped and splayed wire to the back of the workpiece with electrical tape (as I am doing here), or any other method you can think of. After the wire is securely attached, wrap the back of the metal with electrical tape or an extra piece of vinyl sheet. Cover all areas on the back and sides that you do not want to be etched. Any metal that is exposed will be etched.
Step 6: Prepare the Sacrificial Metal Piece
Connect another wire to the piece of sacrificial metal you have selected. In this photo, I am using some scrap galvanized steel for the sacrificial metal, but stainless steel is the best because it doesn't degrade and keeps the salt water cleaner. You do not need to mask off anything on this piece of metal as it will not be etched.
Instead of a sacrificial piece of metal, you could use a stainless steel pot and put the negative (-) alligator clip right on the rim of the pot. You would then put the workpiece into the pot, along with the salt water, and etch right in the pot. You just need to make sure that the workpiece does not contact the pot electrically.
Instead of a sacrificial piece of metal, you could use a stainless steel pot and put the negative (-) alligator clip right on the rim of the pot. You would then put the workpiece into the pot, along with the salt water, and etch right in the pot. You just need to make sure that the workpiece does not contact the pot electrically.
Step 7: Prepare the Etching Tank and Salt Water
Measure out enough water to cover your pieces of metal by about an inch or two, and mix a lot of salt into the water. The more salt, the better it will conduct electricity and the better it will etch your metal.
Step 8: Prepare to Electro-Etch
Place your pieces of metal in the tub of salt water. Connect wire from the piece of metal you want to etch to the positive (+) terminal of the power supply, and connect the wire from the sacrificial piece of metal to the negative terminal (-) on your power supply. Then place the pieces of metal in the tub of salt water and place them as far apart as possible. Make sure the side of the plaque that you want to etch is facing up.
Step 9: Electro-Etch Your Plaque
Turn on the power supply, and you should see bubbles start to come off the surface of your plaque. Leave it to bubble for as long as you want. The longer you leave it bubbling, the deeper it will etch. If the salt water becomes really dark after a while, you can turn off the power supply and replace the water with new salt water and continue. Be careful if you let it etch too long because you will start to get "undercutting" where the metal starts to get eaten out from under the vinyl mask.
In the photo, you will see a divider separating the tank's right and left halves. The divider is only a chopstick and is only at the surface of the salt water, and serves to keep the red scum on the left side of the tub so I can see the plaque as it etches.
In the photo, you will see a divider separating the tank's right and left halves. The divider is only a chopstick and is only at the surface of the salt water, and serves to keep the red scum on the left side of the tub so I can see the plaque as it etches.
Step 10: Behold Your Creation
When you are happy with the depth of the etching, turn off the power supply and remove the plaque from the tub. Rinse it off, and remove the vinyl and tape. Remove the wire. Your plaque is complete!
After I etched this plaque, I took it over to the sandblasting cabinet and sandblasted the whole surface, then I used an orbital sander to smooth the surface of the raised features to get the look that you see.
After I was done, I noticed that the copper/zinc chemicals in the salt water had stained my finger nails a beautiful shade of turquoise. This was an undesired effect. i suggest that you wear rubber gloves when you reach into the tank to grab your workpiece!
After I etched this plaque, I took it over to the sandblasting cabinet and sandblasted the whole surface, then I used an orbital sander to smooth the surface of the raised features to get the look that you see.
After I was done, I noticed that the copper/zinc chemicals in the salt water had stained my finger nails a beautiful shade of turquoise. This was an undesired effect. i suggest that you wear rubber gloves when you reach into the tank to grab your workpiece!
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I am Trying to make a Chopper Motorcycle Solo Seat out of aluminum, and I want to engrave it with DEEP engraving. How deep does this method goes? How long did it took you in the etched card example?
Tank you sincerely,
Jesse M.
I forgot your second question. The etch I did in the instructable took about 8 hours.
The only things that you have to watch are:
o Be sure the mask (whatever you use to cover the areas that you don't want to etch) doesn't come loose. You might want to use something like nail polish with a brush as a mash, depending on your design. I'm playing with the use of fingernail extension acrylic as a coating, and using a laser cutter to remove the areas that I want to etch.
o Change your salt water every so often. If it starts getting really chunky with metal precipitates, then simply stop the process, dump put the old salt water, refill with fresh salt water and restart the etch. You can do this as many times as you wish.
o Watch for undercuts. With very long etches, the etching process will want to start attacking the newly-exposed vertical edges of the etched areas. In other words, instead of etching straight in to your metal piece, the etching process will start etching underneath your mask. There's nothing you can really do about this...you just have to be aware of it.
Good luck!
The rest isn't very expensive: a box of table salt, water, the battery from your motorcycle, some wires and a plastic container. I bought way more brass than I really need for $20 from a metal recycling company.
That's true. Very few of us can afford this equipment, which exactly why I started TechShop!
Where do you live? Maybe there is or will be soon a TechShop near you.
Thanks!
God luck!
I'm also developing a method that uses PMMA dental acrylic powder and monomer to create a thin layer of resist that can be cleanly and completely removed with a laser cutter to expose the areas to be etched away. Spray paints and other finishes I have tried, and I've tried every one I can get my hands on, tend to leave a waterproof film in the lasered areas that must be cleaned with isopropyl, but this step often disturbs the paint covering the traces.
I WANT TECHSHOP IN ITALY !!!
We'll have TechShop locations in Italy eventually!
Thanks!
Yes, I certainly expect that we will bring TechShop to Australia as well.
Thanks!
tx sky
I should be able to use grease or vaseline to mask areas I don't want etched, right?
Hi Ivan...
Maybe. It just has to be something that will stand up to the water-based electro-etching process.
I just tried a couple of methods today including liquid mask with the laser cutter and spray paint over that, but the mask didn't hold the paint (the whole thing peeled up). I was really hopeful, too.
I want to try rubber cement with the laser cutter...anyone try this? Does runner cement completely ablate?
There is also non-PVC "vinyl" sign sheet that I would like to try with the laser.
Alas, i think that the vinyl cutter is the only way I know of at this moment to create the mask with a digital file.
Thanks!
http://ak.buy.com/PI/0/500/208054133.jpg
a) always release HIGHLY FLAMMABLE HYDROGEN, so do it only in a very, very well vented area;
and
b) if done using stainless steel as an anode, will release HIGHLY TOXIC HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexavalent_chromium for a good review.
Be careful. This is a great 'ible and a fantastic process to use, but can be very dangerous.
2) This process will NOT produce chromates unless you are etching stainless steel which in my experience is quite difficult.
3) If you add a bit of vinegar to the electrolyte it will delay the development of the orange/green precipitate considerably.
4) You can use many other kinds of resist. Press-n-Peel is quite good.
Hi TriumphMan...
Which toy, the CNC vinyl cutter? You can find them on eBay for under $200 for a new 34" unit:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-34-Vinyl-Cutter-Plotter-Make-Signs-Decals-Banners-w-USB-SignCut-USCutter-/280827878334?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4162a55bbe
As some people have mentioned, you can cut the vinyl sheet with an X-Acto knife and complete this Instructable.
Thanks!
Years ago I used electro-etching to make the bevel on two swords, several daggers, and some jewelry.
One this to note about etching quality is that the higher the current density (current divided by etching area, and to some extent distance between anode and cathode) the brighter the etched surface.
Low current tends to make a rough, almost porous surface (great for plaque backgrounds!) while high currents tend to polish the anode!
What the authour says about under-cutting is quite true; the bubbling tends to creep under the mask, and with high currents, the heat can soften the mask adhesive.
Cool beans on your etching!
Now, where is an old leaf-spring, gotta make another sword....
How did you electro-etch bevels on a sword?
I've done a bit of salt water etching, using copper, with copper 'sacrifice' metal...Do you think the stainless sacrifice piece would work better with copper? Also, have you tried that brush on rubber coating thats available for tool handles as a resist? Or is that what you mean by PlastiDip? I imagine making a plastic template with the cutter, and using it as a stencil would help to easily make multiple copies of the same design, given the correct resist.
One suggestion...using an inexpensive fish tank air pump and an airstone placed in the solution so that the bubbles brush away the metal bits as the piece is being etched speeds up the process nicely. I also hang the metal from small copper hooks (through holes drilled into a small tab left on the metal blanks) formed out of 16 gauge wire with the leads attached, so that the metal falls away from the piece being etched.
Our cutter is a CutterPros. We really like that vendor.
Stainless steel seems to be the best because the water stays cleaner. Not sure why. I just bought a stainless steel tub at a restaurant supply store yesterday that I plan to use for both the water tub AND the negative metal.
PlastiDip is the brush-on or spray on stuff you are talking about. I have 't tried that as a resist but it should work fine.
Good idea about the air pump and hanging the etching item!
Thanks.