Metal Etching - How to 

Metal Etching - How to
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Easy way to etch steel.
This video is an expanded 'How to' of the metal plate etching in my LM386 tybe amp video - check it out! • LM386 tube amp [homage]
This video shows you how to make an easy etching tool to etch steel, made out of a wire nail, some heat shrink tubing and a cotton wool pad.
The etching requires around 12volt 1amp provided by a wall plug transformer, mine was a little higher volts + amperage.
Please be careful as you use electricity and salt water with this technique. make sure that high voltage and water do not get mixed.
Make a stencil of your design, I use sticky backed vinyl and a Silhouette Cameo cutter plugged into my computer to accurately cut out the stencil.
Some electrical tape and a sharp knife will give good results if a little slower to cut the stencil.
Stick the stencil on the steel sheet.
Add some crocodile clips to the ends of the transformer wires.
Mix up some salt solution from table salt and water. I used hot water only to help the salt dissolve quicker.
The salt water acts to conduct the electricity from the etching tool to the metal allowing 'ion liberation' to take place.
Connect the transformer negative crocodile clip to the etching tool + the positive clip to the metal sheet.
Plug in the transformer.
Dip the cotton wool of the etching tool into the salt water and place onto the bare metal of the stencil.
The metal will start to sizzle and give off some smoke.
Etch in a well ventilated place and do not breathe in the smoke, it wont be good for you.
Move the etching tool to a new area of the stencil after a few seconds, dipping into the salt solution from time to time.
I went over the whole stencil about three times to give a good etch.
The surface will blacken up.
When done, unplug the transformer and unclip the metal sheet.
Wipe the black sludge off with a rag and clean out the etched area.
As I was making a name plate of the amp, I drilled a couple of fixing holes and cut the outer area to shape.
I wanted the etch to really stand out so spray painted the face black and when dried, sanded the front face leaving the black paint within the etched area.
Really pleased with the results.
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80s Cop Show by Twin Musicom is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (creativecommon...)
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