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Step 6Etching the panel
WARNNG NOTES:
Acid can burn holes into your skin, wear some protective clothing, gloves, eye protection and gas mask with the appropriate filter designed for acids before handling it!
When the acid mix reacts with the aluminum it starts to produce acid vapours that of course are dangerous to your nose and lungs so by any means, DON'T breath that!
If you feel like this is too much for you to handle, you are probably right and is time to stop reading this and look some place else, otherwise let's move on:
1.- Go to a very well vented area, put on your protective clothing, gloves, eye protection and gas mask with the appropriate filter designed for acids before manipulating the acid, remember, don't do it indoors!.
2.- Use the shallow plastic container to mix the peroxide and acid in a 2:1 proportion, mix just enough to cover the panel and remember, ADD the hydrogen peroxide FIRST, then pour the acid slowly, to avoid any acid splashes.
3.- Place the panel into the container.
4.- The mix will start to react with the aluminum producing a lot of tiny bubbles, and acid vapours, DON'T breath that! , the acid will start to eat the unprotected parts of the panel.
5.- You can take out the panel and rinse it with water(another container with water will do) to check how is it going, take it back to the acid container if it needs some more time.
6.- Let it work until the groove depth left by the acid is about 0.5 mm, you can feel it touching the panel, or taking a closer look, remember to rinse the panel before any inspection, if you let it for too long, the acid will start to corrode the toner and damaging the protected areas.
7.- When the panel is ready, rinse it thoroughly with running water, remove all the tape and rinse it again.
8.- Here comes the green part, after the panel is etched, save the acid mix in a plastic bottle to reuse it another day, it will keep the strength to etch more panels.
Acid can burn holes into your skin, wear some protective clothing, gloves, eye protection and gas mask with the appropriate filter designed for acids before handling it!
When the acid mix reacts with the aluminum it starts to produce acid vapours that of course are dangerous to your nose and lungs so by any means, DON'T breath that!
If you feel like this is too much for you to handle, you are probably right and is time to stop reading this and look some place else, otherwise let's move on:
1.- Go to a very well vented area, put on your protective clothing, gloves, eye protection and gas mask with the appropriate filter designed for acids before manipulating the acid, remember, don't do it indoors!.
2.- Use the shallow plastic container to mix the peroxide and acid in a 2:1 proportion, mix just enough to cover the panel and remember, ADD the hydrogen peroxide FIRST, then pour the acid slowly, to avoid any acid splashes.
3.- Place the panel into the container.
4.- The mix will start to react with the aluminum producing a lot of tiny bubbles, and acid vapours, DON'T breath that! , the acid will start to eat the unprotected parts of the panel.
5.- You can take out the panel and rinse it with water(another container with water will do) to check how is it going, take it back to the acid container if it needs some more time.
6.- Let it work until the groove depth left by the acid is about 0.5 mm, you can feel it touching the panel, or taking a closer look, remember to rinse the panel before any inspection, if you let it for too long, the acid will start to corrode the toner and damaging the protected areas.
7.- When the panel is ready, rinse it thoroughly with running water, remove all the tape and rinse it again.
8.- Here comes the green part, after the panel is etched, save the acid mix in a plastic bottle to reuse it another day, it will keep the strength to etch more panels.
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Apr 2, 2009. 7:52 PMsmitty
says:
I think you meant to say "peroxide" instead of "water" under step 6, when mentioning the 2:1 mixing ratio.
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1
Apr 2, 2009. 8:24 PM
sineSurfer (author)
says:
sineSurfer (author)
says:
I thought I had that one fixed, fixed now :)
Reply
Mar 22, 2009. 11:21 PMglenn.craver
says:
Yeah, that sounds pretty cool to. I'll need to try both. But hey, who can resist working with (best Dexter voice) CHEMICALS?! Science! Thanks for the Instructable! I've been wanting something to do with this spare bit of hydrochloric acid I had left over from an electroplating job.
Reply
34
Mar 20, 2009. 7:10 AMjeff-o
says:
jeff-o
says:
Note that you can also etch the aluminum using electrolysis. All you need is a tank of salt water, a suitable DC power supply, and a piece of scrap "sacrificial" aluminum. Prepare the aluminum as you would for dipping in acid, but leave a space to attach an alligator clip directly to the metal. Dunk both the workpiece and the scrap aluminum in the tank. Connect the positive lead to the workpiece and the negative to the scrap piece. Feed it 6-12V at about 2 amps. After only a short while the water will start to get warm and begin frothing (don't inhale!) and the aluminum will etch.
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