making a marking pad for etching?

Daniel Rohde

Daniel Rohde

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Jul 22, 2014
Messages
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I have been hearing about the importance of a good marking pad and I heard that a carbon etching pad is the best so my

questions where, is it cost effective?(I like making things so if I can save money and get a worth wile product I'd do it)

And how would you do it?

Thanks

Daniel
 
I would buy a commercial pad of good quality. Then after looking at it to see exactly how it is made, make a couple and see if your home made ones work as well in etching. If they are as good, then you will never need to buy one again. If not, you will know why most folks buy a good pad for a good etch.


There are two key parts to an etching system - The transformer and the pad. If you consider an etcher as a car, the transformer is the engine of the unit and the pad is the tires that get you there. These are the two things that make your etching system work well or work poorly. I don't see much advantage to trying to skimp on either to save a few bucks. Sure, you can make an etcher from a phone charger and a Q-tip...but it will never etch well. If your system won't create at least 3 amps ( 72 watts) and have perfect surface contact and current flow with the pad...it isn't going to etch right.
 
Stacy, which pad would you recommend buying for a first time etcher?

Also maybe the best but most economical power source for a first timer? Sorry not trying to hijack. I just ordered my stencils from Ernie yesterday.

Jay
 
i buy the pads also but since they have 2 felts on each i pul them apart and use one felt at a time. now if your talking aobut the electrode thats a whole different ball of wax
as for powere supply i looked into it and think i might have been able to build one but the personalizer plus was just too good a deal to pass on
 
I think I'll will get the one at usaknifemaker then. Is it important to buy the felt pads if your using a carbon pad?
 
You want a 3 amp 24VAC center tapped transformer (120VAC input) plus a 5 amp bridge rectifier. Everything else is lights and switches. making the etcher with variable voltage is nice, but not a requirement if you have the two settings ( 12 and 24V)
 
I am not saying it is better than a commercial pad, but I have one I made that is on Ernie's site and it works just fine. I made it from stuff I already had in my shop and garage so it cost nothing. If you do decide to make one, that is a good one to start with.
 
M forge said:
I am not saying it is better than a commercial pad, but I have one I made that is on Ernie's site and it works just fine. I made it from stuff I already had in my shop and garage so it cost nothing. If you do decide to make one, that is a good one to start with.
Click to expand...
Do you have the link to the site, I eant to try to make one. :D
 
I just finished mine, power supply and etching pad, with those plans. It works incredibly well. I used 18G wire inside and 16G for the leads. One more thing, the center off switch listed on Ernie's site is no longer carried by RadioShack but they have another that is almost identical. Part#275-0038 is the right one.

This page was a great help also.

http://chriscrawfordknives.com/electro-etching-unit/4535265119
 
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