Electro etching not as “clean” as I would like

R

Ross99

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May 31, 2011
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I use thin glossy paper and a laser printer to make resists. Most of the time my test marks get a dusty, pitted look over the whole unmasked area. The mark itself is nice, fairly deep and black. I use dc to etch and ac to blacken. I have an adjustable power supply and have tried 6v, 12v, 16v and 24v. Mostly I get the unwanted "shadows". I have found that I really need to pay attention to the heating of the resist, seems like hotter it was the better the results. I have one test mark that is perfect. I used an iron turned on to max to transfer and 24v to etch and blacken. Unfortunately I cannot duplicate the results. Any ideas on how to get rid of the “shadowing”? I use ats and S7.
 
When you say the "unmasked area" what part are you talking about? The unmasked area is the portion that gets etched. Are you saying the mark is pitted looking, or the portion masked by the toner? How long are you etching? What type of pad? Pictures?
 
It sounds like what you're saying is the resist isn't resisting enough. Before you etch, paint over the resist with nail polish (Obviously avoid covering the part you want to etch) or a paint pen.

If possible, turn the quality of the printer up as high as it'll go or just try a different printer.
 
Hey guys, I meant to say is that the "resist isn't resisting enough". I'll test the nail polish, tried using "Instant Black" gun paint, but it made things worse. What kind of paint pen is recommended?

The printer is set on High quality. Am using a commercial Carbon Block hand pad. I hold the pad down for a couple of seconds and lift for a couple seconds. I do this for 4 or 5 cycles. I see a lot of bubbling.

I bought my printer just for making resists, bummer if it's not working well for this. I'll try asking my friends if they have a laser printer. I guess I could try Office Max also?

Please keep the ideas coming, I really would like this to work.
 
Try finding an acrylic paint marker. I've read that Sharpie permanent markers also work. I use them to cover the larger areas; I don't know if they help but at the very least they don't hurt.

If you can see a lot of bubbling then it makes me think you have too much etchant. Try backing off of that. You want it to be just damp.
 
fumbler has touched on problem with making marks. The pad should only be moist...not wet. I blot it on a paper towel before each etch.
Too wet gets fuzzy borders, and such.
 
Different brands use different toner in their laser printers. My samsung makes great resists, but an HP that I tried was horrible.
 
Why was the HP horrible? I have an HP and sometimes the toner just doesn't want to stick to steel.
 
That's what I found with HP. It wouldn't stick to the steel using the same methods that worked for the Samsung. The Samsung toner had an almost plastic-bag like feel, while the HP toner seemed very powdery. I'd also look at toner-saver and make sure it is turned off. I'll do some more tested this week with different paper settings. The cardstock setting should put more toner on the paper, but might have misfeed issues with the thin stuff, theoretically.
 
Inkjet printers use either dye or pigment. For our use, dye is no good because it soaks into the paper. Pigment is the one to use because its more like paint, particles in fluid suspension.
 
Well I went to Walmart and got a Samsung laser printer. A craft shop had Acrylic paint pens. My first try was with 12v, using the paint pen on the resist to thicken it. I also used much less etching fluid. The result was a good mark but still a little shadowing under the resist. Better than the Brother printer I had, but still could use some work. Tomorrow I will try some other combinations.
 
Silly question, but are you fully cleaning up the mark and giving the metal a few strokes with a block and 2500 grit paper?
 
Hi bladsmth, I'm cleaning the etched blade with Brake Clean. I tried a sanding block and 220 grit(test blades), but the "over spray" effect goes deep into the metal. My last try with the Samsung actually looks pretty good, no deep pitting. I'll try more combinations today. Thanks for all the help.
 
I see the advantages of being able to do your own templates, but for the price of the printer (s) you just bought You could have had quite a few stencils made.
 
Yes, I agree. No matter how good the printer, there will still be spaces between the dots of ink. These will etch as micro-dots in the steel.

A proper stencil will be impervious to the etchant, except where the image was removed.
 
bladsmth said:
Yes, I agree. No matter how good the printer, there will still be spaces between the dots of ink. These will etch as micro-dots in the steel.
Click to expand...

I hate to disagree, but this is inaccurate in multiple ways. When ink hits the paper it bleeds enough to touch the neighboring dots. Photo paper reduces the bleed, but it still bleeds. Second, this method of resist etching requires the use of a laser printer. Laser printers use toner consisting of plastic and pigment. When removed from the paper lattice and transferred to the steel it should melt together preventing gaps between the dots. Lastly, and I'm not certain of this one but it makes sense, surface tension should limit the size of gap that etchant will move into. Any theroetical gaps between 600 DPI dots would be measured in microns and I'm not sure that etchant would fill such a small gap.

1234567890, a laser printer can be had for under $100, or the price of just a few stencils. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely a place for stencils in the shop. Anything you're going to do more than once, like your logo, will be much easier with a stencil. I have both my sons' names, numbers 1234567890, several of my logo, a few goofy things, and several steel types from my sheet of stencils. This type of toner resist is best for one time things like a customer's name, wedding date, birthday, anniversary, etc. I still test my etchers with a stencil because it's so much quicker and easier.
 
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zaph1 said:
1234567890, a laser printer can be had for under $100, or the price of just a few stencils.
Click to expand...

The way I read this thread, the OP bought 2 printers so far.

That would be 4 pages of stencils or so.



If you have your heart set on making custom stencils, you can go the step further for photo developing.
 
The ability to etch any logo or other identifying marks on a blade is easily worth the cost of a couple of cheap printers. I'll keep the Samsung and sell the Brother.

So far my best marks have been without the acrylic paint, 9v, pad only damp. I will do more testing with the acrylic paint at lower voltages as well as return to 24v for a couple of tests.

Thanks for all the help, hopefully I can get this process down.
 
12345678910 said:
If you have your heart set on making custom stencils, you can go the step further for photo developing.
Click to expand...

On that note, what type of developer and where do you get it?
I've found the stencil material online but not the developer unless you buy the whole kit.
 
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