Low Tide - Resurrected

[chongmagic]

I found this Low Tide that I had some issues with probably over two years ago. I had just built a few so I figured I would take a look at it. Cleaned up some of the soldering, fixed a lifted pad, popped in a J201 in place to I think was a 2SK30, anyways the J201 brought it to life. I figured I would try something with my laser for the enclosure. I really didn't intend to carve that deep into the aluminum, but Tayda paint is a little more tricky than powder coat. So I kind of used a little too much power. Anyways, it works now and resides in a nice enclosure of its own.

 

[p_wats]

Looks great! Nice resurrection

 

[Aleph Null]

Lovely etch!

 

[pricklyrobot]

Looks great
Is that an underwater topographical map?

Can you etch into the actual metal (as opposed to the paint) a significant amount?

I’ve been curious weather a laser could replace chemical etching on bare aluminum.

What I’d read/seen in the past suggested a hobbyist-grade laser could ‘burn’ a permanent mark in aluminum but wouldn’t actually ‘engrave’ an obvious tactile channel like you can get with acid

 

[giovanni]

That is so cool! How do you align the laser to the enclosure? Does your laser have an led pilot light for positioning?

 

[Morbidpale]

Thats so sexy!

 

[Gordo]

That etch is sick, I love it. Did you backfill with black or is that the laser scorching the paint?