Etchant?

Bricksnbeatles

Bricksnbeatles

Member known well
Anyone have opinions on etchants for use on copper clad pcb stock, aluminum enclosures, and brass flat stock? Ferric Chloride? Muriatic Acid? Vinegar-H2O2 solution? Something else?

In the past I've only done electroetching of aluminum, but I have some other stuff I want to work on.

Also anyone have experience using adhesive vinyl as an etch mask in place of toner for certain situations? Dollar tree has circuit vinyl and it would probably be cheaper to do the less-detailed etch projects with that than the comparatively expensive toner transfer paper (never had much luck with the magazine/photo paper method), and my sister has a circuit I could borrow every once in a while.
 
Ferric chloride all the way. Its fast acting and gets the job done. I dilute it with a little bit of water. I've reused the same batch that I've poured in a jar over and over. But i havent had any experience with vinyl's as an etch mask now that you say it that might be the way to go. Just remember you dont want nothing too sticky for an adhesive as you use the etch itll heat up the enclosure and all that residue can be a pain to take off sometimes. Oh and dont forget a mask n gloves if it gets on your hands its not a big deal as it only attacks metal but it stains really bad. But the fumes it gives off id imagine are very harmful so do it outside as well.

Update:
Heres the ferric chloride i use
https://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals...CI6IjEuOTgifQ==&sprefix=ferric,aps,109&sr=8-3
 
Last edited:
Bricksnbeatles said:
Anyone have opinions on etchants for use on copper clad pcb stock, aluminum enclosures, and brass flat stock? Ferric Chloride? Muriatic Acid? Vinegar-H2O2 solution? Something else?

In the past I've only done electroetching of aluminum, but I have some other stuff I want to work on.

Also anyone have experience using adhesive vinyl as an etch mask in place of toner for certain situations? Dollar tree has circuit vinyl and it would probably be cheaper to do the less-detailed etch projects with that than the comparatively expensive toner transfer paper (never had much luck with the magazine/photo paper method), and my sister has a circuit I could borrow every once in a while.
Click to expand...
This is creepy. I was thinking about this today too. I saw one of Reeves’ etched pedals on TPS and thought about using Cricut vinyl too. I haven’t tried it and I do not have experience with etching, but it sounds like a reasonable option.
 
aefpv said:
This is creepy. I was thinking about this today too. I saw one of Reeves’ etched pedals on TPS and thought about using Cricut vinyl too. I haven’t tried it and I do not have experience with etching, but it sounds like a reasonable option.
Click to expand...
It also occurred to me that even if the cricut test doesn’t turn out well, it would be more than easy enough to use the cricut to cut out a negative of the transfer, and then use that as a mask for a quick cost of cheap spray paint (which I know for a fact makes for a very good etch mask)
 
Bricksnbeatles said:
It also occurred to me that even if the cricut test doesn’t turn out well, it would be more than easy enough to use the cricut to cut out a negative of the transfer, and then use that as a mask for a quick cost of cheap spray paint (which I know for a fact makes for a very good etch mask)
Click to expand...
Its all about that mask
 
Nostradoomus said:
Not sure about copper but for etching aluminum I always used laser toner transfer and a 40g/100ml mixture of lye and water. I bought a cricut thinking it would work well but it was just a huge pain in the ass and the detail just isn’t there.
Click to expand...
how do you dispose of the lye afterwards? Can't find what the resultant byproducts of a lye and aluminum reaction are, and I don't remember enough from high school chem to figure it out 😂

that said, etching with an alkaline seems a lot more scary to me than an acid– acid'll burn you, but a strong alkaline will straight up melt you 🤢
 
Nostradoomus said:
Not sure about copper but for etching aluminum I always used laser toner transfer and a 40g/100ml mixture of lye and water. I bought a cricut thinking it would work well but it was just a huge pain in the ass and the detail just isn’t there.
Click to expand...
When transferring the toner what’s your go to method?
 
peccary said:
@dawson has some of the best etched enclosures I've seen, just thought I'd tag him here in case he had anything to add.
Click to expand...

Aw- thanks Joe!
You really are too kind!

I'm in the ferric chloride club but I've been struggling to get good results with my transfers lately as my Brother laser printer ages..

A couple things that aid my results after an imperfect transfer are:
*my incredibly thin paintbrushes that I use to touch-up toner masks with nail polish 💅
*I make sure all of the lines in my layouts are at-least as thick as my thinnest paintbrush- never thinner than 2pt
*I don't rush anything in the incredibly tedious masking process

Some of my touch-ups before dunking:
eEOwpU1.jpg


@Nostradoomus gets better results than I do though- if that's a laser toner transfer, I'd really like to know what model of printer's being used.
 
My first builds were on etched PCBs. I used FeCl.

I hear muriatic acid is more aggressive, but with FeCl the biggest concern is staining your clothes or skin... Never had any burns or anything crazy like that.

I've etched steel with FeCl as well, although it's much slower than copper, but it worked.

1666289382296.png
 
Nostradoomus said:
Iron on. I tried a few different irons but the best one was an vintagey flat iron without the water reservoir and all that stuff. No holes in it. Stays consistently hot across the whole area which I can’t say about newer ones I’ve checked.
Click to expand...
I've been using the one with holes in it that's probably why I've been getting cracks un the toner transfer. How long do you hold your iron for during the transfer?
 
steviejr92 said:
I've been using the one with holes in it that's probably why I've been getting cracks un the toner transfer. How long do you hold your iron for during the transfer?
Click to expand...

There’s lots of variables in etching (why I switched to a laser, repeatable results) so it’s hard to say that’s the real cause.

Normally I would just let the iron sit on top for a few minutes to heat up the whole box and then start smoothing out the edges for another few minutes. Then dunk it in lukewarm soapy water until the paper starts peeling off.

The key was finding the right paper which I found at the office supply store in bulk sheets until they switched brands and I was screwed 😂. It was thin (65gsm maybe?) glossy cardstock paper, worked better than anything but I never asked what kind it was.
 
Nostradoomus said:
There’s lots of variables in etching (why I switched to a laser, repeatable results) so it’s hard to say that’s the real cause.

Normally I would just let the iron sit on top for a few minutes to heat up the whole box and then start smoothing out the edges for another few minutes. Then dunk it in lukewarm soapy water until the paper starts peeling off.

The key was finding the right paper which I found at the office supply store in bulk sheets until they switched brands and I was screwed 😂. It was thin (65gsm maybe?) glossy cardstock paper, worked better than anything but I never asked what kind it was.
Click to expand...
Im using 150 gsm dude that makes so much sense. I have been using the glossy business paper 150gsm.
 
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