LOGO etching Help!

Fish30114

Fish30114

Joined
Jan 5, 2014
Messages
1,495
I have a goodly bunch of blades that I have completed that I need to put my makers mark on. I have had a logo created and bought some stencils from Ernie at Blue Lightning Stencils and I have a good power supply--it outputs 0-24V DC or AC--and it is running at about 6 amps when I put it against (through a bolt) a blade. I have tried both some electrolyte that I got from McMaster Carr, and some Salt saturated water and I am literally destroying my Stencils--I don't know what I can be doing wrong, I've seen a lot of vids on Utube, and I'm doing just as these folks do.

Any help is appreciated.
 
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OK, thanks for that input---I can adjust the voltage but the amperes only show up when I touch the metal to the blade. I guess I can just lower the voltage and see what that does--I'm pretty confident that I can't get it that low in AMPS if I get 12v going. I love to know how someone would get less amperage readout when their power supply only is adjustable in voltage???
 
Oh, wow! You've been trying to weld, not etch. What on earth are you using a BOLT for? You need a water conductive material of some sort, a wet paper q-tip works fine, or you can get fancier and use makeup pads, felt, etc.
 
Well, I was actually using a bolt that I put through a piece of cocobolo and ground the tip down flat--then rubber banded a piece of felt over top of it--I saw a lot of folks do it that way, and even my man Walter Sorells made a brass end piece tapped and screwed on to the end of a 1/4-20 bolt. I really don't know what I'm doing, and I'm having trouble currently so I'm open to input for sure!
 
I'm guessing your 6 amps PS is your problem. Since it has a variable voltage adjustment you might try 6vdc or less on DC when others using 12vdc are running at 1 amp or so. Same goes on AC try 12VAC instead of 24.
 
LCoop, thanks for that, I'll definitely try that. I'm open to all viewpoints at this point.
 
Fish, I know very little about electricity but I can tell you the popular Personalyzer Plus unit runs at 24 volts max with 3 amps. I do not know if your amperage will change if you adjust the voltage but maybe another reader will know. I etch at the 24 volt max and it takes only 4 or 5 seconds to etch( DC current) and the same for mark ( ac current). Larry
 
I agree I'm happy with Tus also. I recently just bought there with 1st design setup fee, a sheet of stencils with 5 cut out stencils, stainless chemical, cleaner, shipped to my door for $75.
 
Per Ohms Law, Power = (Volts) x (Amps). If you have a constant power but variable voltage supply than reducing the voltage will increase the amperage. At low voltage, this condition could burn your stencils. What is the rating of your power supply?

You say that your unit is putting out about 6 amps. At what voltage, and how do you know this?
 
Lieblad said:
Against any given resistance, increasing voltage applied will increase amperage.
Conversely, Lower the voltage, will lower the amperage.
Click to expand...

This is inaccurate. Voltage and amperage are completely separate. Watts = volts x amps, thus 120v @ 20A = 240v @ 10A = 12V @ 200A

Let's start by showing a link to a couple etchers I made WIPs for. Reading them should give you a rough idea of what you're doing and why/how it works:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ew-Electro-Etcher-design?highlight=diy+etcher
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...-Electro-etcher-under-20?highlight=diy+etcher

And a really good thread with lots of questions that you're probably going to ask next:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1132801-Logo-Etching-Problems?highlight=diy+etcher


Amps are drawn, not pushed, so the amperage will actually be very low, around 200ma when I tested on my etchers despite using a 1A transformer. Just because yours is rated at 6A doesn't mean it's etching at 6A. If it were, your felt would catch on fire having 144 watts passing through it. Ideal etching voltage is somewhere between 12vdc and 16vdc. Start at 12VDC and increase from there if you need to.

PS: Never hold the bolt against the blade, that would be trying to weld and is VERY hard on the power supply.
 
Thanks for the feedback folks--this power supply gives a voltage or amperage readout--you select which--so that's what was telling me what was happening--I don't know if I need to get a step down something and hook the 0-24V output leads into that or what. Something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/24Vdc-to-12...ffType=OrderSubTotalOffer&_trksid=p5731.m3795 ? I'll be honest, I saw a video on utube where Trollsky bought a power supply off of E-bay to do his etching and so I went there and bought the machine I got-not really knowing what to get--DOH! I've seen a lot out there, now that I've gotten some tech info, maybe I can get a truly useable one. An acquaintance told me I could use and old cell phone charger--is that correct?
 
Fish30114 said:
Thanks for the feedback folks--this power supply gives a voltage or amperage readout--you select which--so that's what was telling me what was happening--I don't know if I need to get a step down something and hook the 0-24V output leads into that or what. Something like this http://www.ebay.com/itm/24Vdc-to-12...ffType=OrderSubTotalOffer&_trksid=p5731.m3795 ? I'll be honest, I saw a video on utube where Trollsky bought a power supply off of E-bay to do his etching and so I went there and bought the machine I got-not really knowing what to get--DOH! I've seen a lot out there, now that I've gotten some tech info, maybe I can get a truly useable one. An acquaintance told me I could use and old cell phone charger--is that correct?
Click to expand...

I've seen that video. When you said bolt originally that's who I thought of. I don't think he ever touched the steel with the bolt though, just the etchant. Plus he wasn't using a stencil like you probably purchased but a sticker with the shape cut out.
 
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Yeah green you're right, but I chose to put a piece of felt over the bolt which I had ground flat on the end so I actually have been touching the felt pad (lightly soaked in etchant or saltwater) to the knife. After checking out those threads that Mr. Atlas Knife gave to check out--Thanks--I am wondering if I need to reverse which lead I have connected to the knife and which one I have attached to the handheld bolt/felt unit I have.
The output jacks are labeled - and +, I've been clipping the - one to the knife and the + one to my handled bolt/felt piece.
 
I don't know what your funds are like, or if you want to start over but there are multiple plans available to make your own for less than a new etcher. These are proven designs with good results.

At least get a good hand pad or make one.

A lot of people have used the plans I have available at HERE .

Good luck.

Mike L
 
logem, I have the funds to go another route--I obviously would like to be able to use the unit I already bought--the link you gave won't work for me :confused:
 
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