Simple electro-etching. I had a couple requests on how I do some of my etching. I put this together pretty quick and with a cell phone.
Here’s how to do it:
What you need:
1. Lighter
2. Q-tip
3. Couple spoonfuls of water and a few sprinkles of salt mixed in
4. Old candle
5. Mechanical pencil with needle inserted into the tip
6. Small power supply, 5V, 12V….don’t need many milli-amps
7. Scrap piece of metal
Here’s how:
1. Coat the metal piece completely with a thin layer of wax and let cool
2. Take the mechanical pencil and write what you want
3. Take the negative POSITIVE lead to the metal and dip the NEGATIVE lead into the saltwater mixture
4. Trace over the writing a few times with the negative lead being careful to not smear the wax (longer you do this the deeper it goes….15 to 30 seconds is more than enough) You should see the water changing a little color and bubbling a little bit…that is just the process of how it is done.
5. Heat the wax off and wipe off
6. Hit the metal on the buffer to clean it up (yes notice the high dollar harbor freight specialized equipment!)
7. THAT’S IT!!! You just did your poor boy version of electro etch!
Note: This will work with all metals, even carbide. If you want it to etch and leave black lettering, trace with the negative lead. If you want clean with no black lettering…paint with the positive (the piece in the picture was stainless). You can only do clean etch with a stainless steel. It’s a crude way of doing it but it can be fancied up. Anyhow, hope this helps.
Here’s how to do it:
What you need:
1. Lighter
2. Q-tip
3. Couple spoonfuls of water and a few sprinkles of salt mixed in
4. Old candle
5. Mechanical pencil with needle inserted into the tip
6. Small power supply, 5V, 12V….don’t need many milli-amps
7. Scrap piece of metal
Here’s how:
1. Coat the metal piece completely with a thin layer of wax and let cool
2. Take the mechanical pencil and write what you want
3. Take the negative POSITIVE lead to the metal and dip the NEGATIVE lead into the saltwater mixture
4. Trace over the writing a few times with the negative lead being careful to not smear the wax (longer you do this the deeper it goes….15 to 30 seconds is more than enough) You should see the water changing a little color and bubbling a little bit…that is just the process of how it is done.
5. Heat the wax off and wipe off
6. Hit the metal on the buffer to clean it up (yes notice the high dollar harbor freight specialized equipment!)
7. THAT’S IT!!! You just did your poor boy version of electro etch!
Note: This will work with all metals, even carbide. If you want it to etch and leave black lettering, trace with the negative lead. If you want clean with no black lettering…paint with the positive (the piece in the picture was stainless). You can only do clean etch with a stainless steel. It’s a crude way of doing it but it can be fancied up. Anyhow, hope this helps.
Attached Files
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