picking the right chemical etch machine

rustyrazor

rustyrazor

Joined
Oct 13, 2011
Messages
1,774
ok, ladies and gentlemen, it's that time again to buy a better piece of equipment. just wondering what the best bang for my buck is for an chemical-electro etching machine, and where you got yours. must be AC/DC so it etches deep. Any help would be much appreciated.

cheers

Royce

P.S. who does your stencils... i've been doing my own and they look like crap
 
I have one of these: http://greising.com/GR_EN_P_MSG.AxCMS?ActiveID=2040
It works really great. Use to fool around with a home made piece of crap and I sure wish I would have gotten a proper machine sooner. No more cloudy marks. Use the proper etching solution for the proper steel and you get a great mark every time.

I get my stencils made by http://www.rauen.com/homepage.html in Solingen. They are super and he sells small templates to mount the stencils too.
 
In the US and Canada, the personalizer-plus is the best machine the suppliers carry.
 
We have a Monode etching machine..Its actually a nice machine that works great, even has a port for cleaning the stencils but we got it off ebay for next to nothing($30 shipped) because the seller did not know what it was and had it listed as a power supply :D IMG stencils work better with our machine, they leave a much cleaner deeper etch. deep enough to look like a stamp..
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Id say the best bang for the buck is the Personalizer machines..They work really well. Get good solution, that makes a difference too..
 
Personalizer plus on order... lets see if i can make these things look somewhat professional. lol
 
Rusty, It's a good unit. It was my third etcher purchase and I finally have a machine that works well. Please try #94 etchant from IMG in Utica New York. I use t e green stencils from Electrotech in Brea California and the stencils from TUS tech in Massachusetts...both excellent but many forum members get their stencils from Ernie and are well pleased. The etchant that comes with the Personalyser Plus is junk in my experience. Call IMG in New York and talk to the nice lady who knows everything about etching anything and buy a quart of # 94. Larry




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DEFINITELY CALL PATRICIA AT IMG!!

Yeah, I know it's in all caps. I just got done getting my logo designed by her. If you want a couple lines of words without much thought, go to Ernie Grospitch. If you want a real design, go to Patricia.
 
I will concur that Patricia knows her stuff for sure..While we have a fairly simple design she nailed it..Talking to her you can tell she really knows what she is doing..
I also want to say that IMG's stencils worked much better with our machine that the others..Just nice,crisper lines and an etch deep enough to look like a stamp..The solution makes a big difference too.
 
"The best bang for your buck" is probably to build your own etcher using a proven design.

There are several designs out there. The Chris Crawford etcher will provide as good of results as any commercial one, in my opinion. There are plans and a schematic at my site: HERE.

If you don't want to go through the effort, then it appears from the groups' responses that the personalizer plus is the way to go.

Just make sure that you use quality stencils and the proper commercial etching fluid for your type of blade steel.

Good luck.

Mike L.
 
thanks for all the help gents. Much appreciated... I'll print the results when I can. I'll be away for a couple weeks but then Bam! etching like a madman
 
You're right Mike, a properly build "home made" etcher will give the same results as any commercial unit. I think folks who say "now I got the commercial unit my etches are MUCH better", are experiencing the results of learning much more so than a commercial etching machine. Heck, the stencil and metal doesn't know where the voltage is coming from as long as it's the same voltage.

Ken H>
 
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