The life of Ra (kitless)

[skiprat]

Well Brad, sort of successful, I guess. I'm pleased with the 'process' and the 'finish' is exactly what I was hoping for. My own 'technique' on the other hand needs a lot of tweaking and it can only get better.
The heater was a dud and so no heat.
This peice was left in the cold solution for about an hour.
I mixed the 2 x 250ml bottles with water to make a litre of juice.
The kiddies craft stickers didn't like the Isopropanal or the hot water and the piece most definitely had fingerprints all over it by the time I re-did it.
The juice leaked under the tape masking. ( probably cos of the fingerprints )


Here is the result of my quick test piece.

So......good result actually. I'm sure if I make more effort to be careful then it will work perfectly.

I'm thinking of trying a different method of masking. What do you think of something like paint or nail varnish as a mask and then remove the stickers before etching?

 

[BradG]

Well Brad, sort of successful, I guess. I'm pleased with the 'process' and the 'finish' is exactly what I was hoping for. My own 'technique' on the other hand needs a lot of tweaking and it can only get better.
The heater was a dud and so no heat.
This peice was left in the cold solution for about an hour.
I mixed the 2 x 250ml bottles with water to make a litre of juice.
The kiddies craft stickers didn't like the Isopropanal or the hot water and the piece most definitely had fingerprints all over it by the time I re-did it.
The juice leaked under the tape masking. ( probably cos of the fingerprints )


Here is the result of my quick test piece.

So......good result actually. I'm sure if I make more effort to be careful then it will work perfectly.

I'm thinking of trying a different method of masking. What do you think of something like paint or nail varnish as a mask and then remove the stickers before etching?

Thats a good crack for your first go, nicely done. With regards to other masks and things all i can say is give it a try, as i dont want to sit here saying that wont work, and neither will that just because it didnt work for me. I tried something similar to nail polish, though i found it difficult painting over my mask and then removing the mask keeping a neat straight line without the edge of the paint tearing , flaking, stretching etc. I can post you some of my spare vinyl stickers to play with if you like? at least that way you can see and feel what sort of vinyl im referring to. its pretty tough durable stuff ... my honest opinion would be rather than trying to reinvent the mask, rather try a different type of vinyl to find one which works for you... EG the stuff used for sign writing, oppose to stickers sold as decals etc.

 

[skiprat]

I had similar thoughts about the edges staying sharp if I used nail varnish or paint and the fact that you've tried it and moved on, is good enough for me not to bother.
Thanks for the offer of the vinyl, but let me have another go with the stickers again, but this time I'll take much more care with the cleaning etc.:redface:
When you get your own vinyl cutter, I'll be your first customer:biggrin:

Thanks again for the great intoduction to this. :biggrin: I had almost given up on the idea until you showed it works on stainless too.. :wink:

 

[BradG]

yep plays a key point to stop it getting under the edges as you found out.... though so does the boiling water to in effect shrinkwrap the piece with the plastic vinyl.. if the stickers you have wont hold up to the bopiling water, i suspect you will continue to get the issue you have found.

Watch your patterns too if your only going for getting the pattern ont he piece and not going for depth of the etch you will be fine. if you decide you want to etch to some depth, like 0.25mm+ then you will have to watch your patterns to make sure the lines are not thin. I could see the stickers your using being a PITA. Reason being what you are diong is called Isotropic etching.. which means it etches in all directions, not just down, but sideways too eating its way into the metal what is supporting the mask.

under normal circumstances its fine.. it just means you have a curved wall going on underneith the surface of your pattern like this, and it doesnt cause a problem:

The problem you get, is when there is a thin line and the etchant eats the metal away from both sides!

If the line is too thin, the wall supporting your mask literally dissolves. It doesnt fail because the acid got underneith the mask, its because the ground was eaten away from beneath it.

 

[wizard]

Beautiful !!

Brad..Jeez..Can't leave you alone for even a few days...without you coming up with another gorgeous piece of art! And that is a beautiful pen ...very imaginative, creative and lol...a flagrant display of technical excellence!!! I love it !!!

 

[BradG]

lol thanks Doc

 

[walshjp17]

Looking at this terrific pen gave me "ankh-gst" :wink: wishing I had the skills to recreate such a masterpiece. Yet another PMG-worthy effort. Well done, sir, well done.

 

[Robert111]

Amazing art!

 

[jttheclockman]

OK something for the judges to think about when it comes time for the BASH. Where does Brads great pens enter???? Tough to beat. :biggrin:

 

[mredburn]

Free style

 

[BradG]

Freestyle? but thats where all the top pen turners submit their entries i dont want to be in that category lol compitition's too tough! Remembering the rules from last year, the intermediate category didnt allow lasers and other cnc machines but mentions nothing on etching! :biggrin: found my category lol

 

[BradG]

THOUGH..... i do have a rather special and rather different pen in mind for the freestyle category haha. excited about making it just thinking about it..... time to get the big black curtain out so no one can see what im making in the lab :tongue:

 

[mredburn]

I was going to say "wuss" or the English equivalent on your side of the pond but I see you have already started the design challenge part of it. LOL We are planning a get together and have a go at it following the first of the year if anyone wants to join us. I had better get the mixture made up. I take it that it takes a day or so to dissolve everything.

 

[BradG]

ish.. a few hours and the bulk of it will be dissolved

 

[jttheclockman]

Maybe we need to add a new catagory, Pen Chemistry.

 

[mredburn]

think I need more than teaspoon of powdered copper for it to work?

 

[BradG]

hell put 4 in if you have plenty spare its not something you can put too much of it in. I would say make sure the solutions warm when your using it (30 - 35'C) but im guessing your weather is a bit more aiding than ours!

 

[mredburn]

I have a few lbs of the stuff. I may have to heat it in a pyrex container to help it disolve it, it is winter here and tempetures have dropped to 12' C at night and only hit 21'c daily. In summer we get to 35'c + all the time

 

[BradG]

only... lol.. we are borderline freezing conditions. although unusually mild at the moment. just put it out during the day and it will all dissolve just fine. it will dissolve at room temperature, it just takes a little longer

 

[mredburn]

I can be so dense some days...... its a 100 grams or a little over 3 ounces Im thinking pounds and ordered a 5lb bag of citric acid. I may have a lifetime supply.:tongue::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[BradG]

LOL.. erm well at least USA members know who to contact if they want to buy any Citric :biggrin:

 

[mredburn]

maybe my wife can use it to make lemon cookies or something.

 

[BradG]

Well rather that than its other uses :biggrin: I always feel shady having to ask the chemist if i can buy all of the citirc acid they have in stock (They keep it behind the counter in the UK) I get a very suspicious look and have to explain my intentions, though luckily my local chmist knows me now

 

[BradG]

lol i have visions of Mike being raided by the DEA now for ordering 5lbs of citric acid on the internet :biggrin:

 

[mredburn]

I have a friend that works for the DEA lol

 

[mredburn]

Just made up a double batch Yum yum. Powdered copper floats.

 

[mredburn]

The ferric acid I bought was 42 percent. I just used it straight out of the bottle. according to my math your final solution was at 49 percent. If it doesnt work well I may leave it open to the air for a couple of days to let the water evaporate. Heating would probably help also. I may have to go find a heater if we try and etch next week. WInter tempetures and all that.

 

[mredburn]

I made up 2 qts in a Sterlite ultra seal pitcher available from Target stores that has a snap on lid with silicone seal. They also work well for storing PR from 5 gallon cans. For any one that wants to try them.
Sterilite pitcher at Target

 

[Wright]

Brad, that is work of beauty! You have raised the bar for sure.

 

[BradG]

Sounds ideal Mike, cant see the strengh of your ferric making a difference