Interesting. First I've heard of someone using one of those.
Anyone using a Brother to etch?(Monochrome printer)
- Thread starter jwin615
- Start date
Nostradoomus
Well-known member
air bubbles, definitely getting better though!
I used a paneling roller, but it's a little cumbersome. Have a smaller rubber roller coming from Ali. Decent etch, wish it was deeper. But I started seeing bits of stuff flakeing off. Turns out it was the PVC glue and nail polish. The PVC glue I had on hand(white all purpose) didn't hold up that well. When it lifted, it started pulling the nail polish around the edges.
Edit: lighting glare^^^
pricklyrobot
Member
Re: etchant, I came across this method when I was first starting out:
www.instructables.com
It’s not super fumey once mixed (the muriatic acid on its own is mostly what you need to be careful with), it’s endlessly reusable (just top it up with a dash more peroxide and/or acid now and then), and it gives a good quick consistent etch.
As an aside, I sometimes see references in etching tutorials saying stuff like “safe to dump down your drain” or “do this to neutralize it before you dump it down your drain”. You can pretty much render anything chemically neutral enough to not eat up your drain one way or another, but it’s still got super fine dissolved metal particles in it that shouldn’t go down the drain (and eventually end up in rivers and streams, after they’ve not necessarily been captured by waste-water processing).
Like I said, I just keep reusing the etchant anyway, but I do periodically run it through a paper coffee filter inside of a little plastic colander. Cleans up the etchant to keep it working good. And those tiny metal bits go into the regular trash rather than the water supply.
Stop Using Ferric Chloride Etchant! (A Better Etching Solution.)
Stop Using Ferric Chloride Etchant! (A Better Etching Solution.): Ferric chloride is a traditional home-use circuit board etchant. It's easy enough to come by, and the Ferric by itself is no big environmental problem. However, once you've etched a board with it, you're left with a solution...
www.instructables.com
As an aside, I sometimes see references in etching tutorials saying stuff like “safe to dump down your drain” or “do this to neutralize it before you dump it down your drain”. You can pretty much render anything chemically neutral enough to not eat up your drain one way or another, but it’s still got super fine dissolved metal particles in it that shouldn’t go down the drain (and eventually end up in rivers and streams, after they’ve not necessarily been captured by waste-water processing).
Like I said, I just keep reusing the etchant anyway, but I do periodically run it through a paper coffee filter inside of a little plastic colander. Cleans up the etchant to keep it working good. And those tiny metal bits go into the regular trash rather than the water supply.
Last edited:
pricklyrobot
Member
^ your edges look nice and sharp.
I like a deep etch myself. But it’s always a balancing act. Leave it in too long and you start losing that crisp, fine detail…
I like a deep etch myself. But it’s always a balancing act. Leave it in too long and you start losing that crisp, fine detail…
Thanks. I started seeing some black specs in the etchant, gave it a little more time and once they increased, I pulled it.
Would have definitely preferred it deeper. I made a mistake and didn't rewipe the enclosure right before applying the transfer and I think duct got in there. All a learning process but good progress from the last attempt. I think I'm close to getting the temp/time of the iron worked out. Was way over doing it before.
jessenator
Well-known member
Yeah, that would kill (almost) all the fears I have about going back to etching, and is a dang sight cheaper than a heat press! Thanks for the link.
It great for me over the years too
pricklyrobot
Member
Tried to etch a few enclosures today, but didn’t really get it dialed in until attempt number 3, pictured here.
I think my etchant ended up stronger than I’m used to after I topped up the chemicals (muriatic acid and peroxide) recently. First two etches had excessive pitting, will have to redo them.
But this one salvaged my day from total frustration!
Featuring a White-tailed Kite and destined to house an Aion Torus (Mid-Fi Demo Tape Fuzz clone).
Lovely!View attachment 79578
Tried to etch a few enclosures today, but didn’t really get it dialed in until attempt number 3, pictured here.
I think my etchant ended up stronger than I’m used to after I topped up the chemicals (muriatic acid and peroxide) recently. First two etches had excessive pitting, will have to redo them.
But this one salvaged my day from total frustration!
Featuring a White-tailed Kite and destined to house an Aion Torus (Mid-Fi Demo Tape Fuzz clone).
Erik S
Well-known member
That looks great!View attachment 79578
Tried to etch a few enclosures today, but didn’t really get it dialed in until attempt number 3, pictured here.
I think my etchant ended up stronger than I’m used to after I topped up the chemicals (muriatic acid and peroxide) recently. First two etches had excessive pitting, will have to redo them.
But this one salvaged my day from total frustration!
Featuring a White-tailed Kite and destined to house an Aion Torus (Mid-Fi Demo Tape Fuzz clone).
One thing I’ve noticed can really swing the aggressiveness of that muriatic/peroxide etchant is temperature. I did some outside last fall and at one point it got too cold and I couldn’t get much to happen. The batch I did a few weeks ago was probably close to 80 deg F ambient temp and I had some runaway reactions where the etchant was getting up around 130 and melting all the toner off.
pricklyrobot
Member
Good call. Ambient temperature seems like a totally obvious variable, that somehow never occurred to me before
Did I mention that I’m in Austin, TX where it was near or maybe at 100° this afternoon when I was doing my etching…out in the back yard.
Did I mention that I’m in Austin, TX where it was near or maybe at 100° this afternoon when I was doing my etching…out in the back yard.
Fet_street
New member
If you don't have a computer can you use your phone to connect to it somehow to print circuits
Erik S
Well-known member
The Brother printer I use is wireless, so printing from a phone is pretty straightforward.
Fet_street
New member
So what connects it WiFi or Bluetooth?
Erik S
Well-known member
The printer is connected to my home wifi network so I can print from any devices on that network.
Stickman393
Well-known member
Ever thought of trying electrolysis instead of acid?
That's how I started doing my first few enclosures. All ya need is a relatively beefy DC power supply, a piece of copper for a cathode, conductors, and a tub full of salt water. I got decent results (though it took forever) using a 24Vdc 30watt DIN rail mounted supply, but something beefier would yield far quicker results.
24Vdc is pretty safe to work with, a quality switchmode power supply will be isolated from the mains and have built-in overcurrent protection.
Vinyl-cutting machines have gotten pretty cheap these days too. Cricut, etc. Those make for great resist layers for electrolysis etching. I just picked up an off-brand one off amazon for like, 40 bucks not too long ago. Not sure how it'd fare with muriatic acid though: haven't looked into the chemistry there, but fumes could be a problem.
That's how I started doing my first few enclosures. All ya need is a relatively beefy DC power supply, a piece of copper for a cathode, conductors, and a tub full of salt water. I got decent results (though it took forever) using a 24Vdc 30watt DIN rail mounted supply, but something beefier would yield far quicker results.
24Vdc is pretty safe to work with, a quality switchmode power supply will be isolated from the mains and have built-in overcurrent protection.
Vinyl-cutting machines have gotten pretty cheap these days too. Cricut, etc. Those make for great resist layers for electrolysis etching. I just picked up an off-brand one off amazon for like, 40 bucks not too long ago. Not sure how it'd fare with muriatic acid though: haven't looked into the chemistry there, but fumes could be a problem.
