(easily) etch images in copper

Step 9 Cheese-it!

Cool, you're done!
Enjoy your cool etchings. I'm making two-sided etchings to use as my business cards. Now go out and do some cool stuff!

-al
http://www.artiswrong.com

Comments

[StuNutt]

Thanks Man,

I've started doing a few printed circuit boards and been having some problems, but there's ideas in here that have helped.

Stu

[madpeoplejen]

You can also use this method to print on paper. It's sort of similar to the lithograph and/or screenprinting processes. Instead of reversing your image/text though, you would leave it flipped so that when you ink up your copper plate and print off of that, your image will come out correctly. I believe it's called intaglio. The copper plates last awhile and is fairly easy to ink up, print, and then clean. I forgot what kind of ink works best but you apply it with a squeegee (is there a technical / artist term for one of these?) or a piece of cardboard, use a piece of mesh/tulle/netting to wipe it off, and then run it through a printing press.

[Trust_in_Dust]

actually what you're describing is more akin to block printing, and probably wouldn't work very well with a thin copper etched PCB. in block printing, a brayer is used to roll the ink on to raised surfaces, not a squeegee which is used in silkscreening. intaglio is when you etch away the positive lines of your image in a zinc or copper plate, apply a thick oil-based ink to the whole plate and then carefully rub away the ink left on the smooth surface of the plate with newspapers and cheesecloth until the ink remains only in the depressions. the plate is then run through an intaglio press which pushes the ink on to paper creating a slight raised line, just like with paper money. also, lithography is completely different from any of the above mentioned printing processes, and requires a long complicated sensitization of limestone blocks with chemicals that make some surfaces water-loving and some water-repellent.

[madpeoplejen]

actually, i pretty much described intaglio the same way you did, but whatever. i've studied printmaking and am familiar with the blockprinting, intaglio, and litho processes, i'm just not currently active with it.

[Trust_in_Dust]

i just wanted to clarify that someone trying to ink up and print a plate similar to the one shown here using intaglio methods would not have much success. nor would they have much success using block printing methods. not to mention that someone trying to put a PCB through pretty much any kind of printing press heavy enough to print intaglio would most likely crush it beyond further use.

[superboywing]

Solution: Don't etch on PCBs. Go out and buy copper plates intended for use on an Intaglio Press. Instead of using Ferric Chloride, another Instructable suggests using Copper Chloride in an aqueous Hydrochloric Acid solution. I will be trying this to prepare my plates, and heading to a print shop to rent some studio time to see how well it works.

[glassgardener]

I loved your tutorial, I'm wanting to etch some small decorative items to put in my stained glass art. Can I continue to leave the peice I'm etching in the acid and actually make small intricate trims that are not plates? but little decorative trims? Thanks!!!! glassgardener

[dfault312]

thats a lot of work for some business cards, but it looks sweet.

[prank]

Thanks dude. I'm working on a way to etch about 9 2-sided cards at a time, baking the transparencies in an oven to do the transfer, and then just running batches every now and then. Plus, any shmoe can order cards online--it takes a self-absorbed faux-artiste to waste hours of his time making some.