What is the material on etching pads?

Are you talking about the "Felt pad" you replace after each etch or the carbon "electrode"? If it's the felt I just go to wally world , I buy 9" x 11" sheets & cut as needed. If you're talking about the carbon you can go to any mold shop (tool & die shop) that has a "Sinker EDM" , they use carbon for making electrodes & should be able to hook you up pretty cheap if not for free. All you need is a small blk.
 
The type of material that I've always used with my Marking Methods setup can be found at a fabric seller as a type of "quilt batting" or "facing", so my seamstress wife tells me.
 
Tell me more about this "quilt batting", Is that exclusive to marking methods? I have a "personalizer" and have been using the felt looking stuff they sent with the unit since picking it up a couple years ago. I should say I have always thought it was felt. That is what I replaced the small ammt they sent with the unit with,like I said earlier,wally world felt :) I remember a tutorial a couple years back that suggested using felt. Have I been "Flubbering it up" all this time ?? Does the Batting work better ? Could you post a pic of one of your "marking method touchmarks" fitzo? I'm curious as to how much better it works and looks, and am always looking for something better.Sorry alexmin,fitzo & Don are making me look pretty dumb and I'm wondering if I unintentionally steered you wrong
 
I think just about anything that's made like cloth will work. Felt, cotton batting, anything that can be wrapped around the electrode and that will absorb a little electrolyte fluid. It's purpose is only to pass current between the object to be marked and the electrode without having the electrode actually touch the part to be marked. If the electrode touched the grounded part it would cause a direct short and burn the knife blade.:eek:
 
David, I agree with Don; any fabric that will hold the electrolyte properly and conform to the stencil should be fine. I use the "batting" for the same reasons as you use felt: when the original stuff ran out I went to the fabric store and bought something that looked like it as close as possible. :) It's spun, sorta like fleece, but it's meant to "stuff" inside of sewing to give loft and body. It is much like a felt. It's a tiny bit thicker than flannel, but I don't feel that'll matter near as much as the other components of the process: stencil type and design, electrolyte choice, wetness, voltage, and operator technique.

I don't think you are looking dumb; I don't think you steered Alex wrong.

I just happened to know that different manufacturers supply different stuffs for pads. I figured if he went to the fabric shop and said, "No, that's not it" to felt, then maybe he could say, "Could I look at quilt batting or facing?" That'd just increase his chances for finding what he was trying to match. They tend to group fabrics together; I was just trying to send him to an alternate table in addition to your felt suggestion.

As for a foto, my camera isn't exactly Joe Macro. I don't think I can get a good close up to show the detail without pixelating. Sorry.
 
I have used paper towel layered into a pad for a long time. It works great, and is cheap. I think that success comes with a quality stencil and the appropriate electrolyte to start with, and good prepping habits.
 
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