Model Boat Mayhem
Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: captain bligh on December 13, 2015, 08:18:30 pm
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Hi all
Having just left a friend's house to see the latest progress on his model always wounded how they cut out etched brass sheets? The detail is second to none and so small !! Can anyone tell me is cut with water , acid , laser ??? Just be interested to know
:-)) :-))
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Hi all
Having just left a friend's house to see the latest progress on his model always wounded how they cut out etched brass sheets? The detail is second to none and so small !! Can anyone tell me is cut with water , acid , laser ??? Just be interested to know
:-)) :-))
Its model railway related but the theory is just the same:-
http://www.nigellawton009.com/Etching_for_Beginners_Version_5.htm
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Used the same process a while back for some railings and vent, and later for a hose reel.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=447591
:-))
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If I remember rightly, there was a very good article in Model Boats back in the 2000's (?) on home etching of brass.
I recall it explained the full procedure and gave some examples of where one could obtain all the 'stuff' needed.
Will have a look this evening and see if I can find it....
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The etching solution is freely available called Ferric Chloride - its not nice stuff! But you can buy in quantity from ebay or from Maplin, the stuff will etch brass or copper, think circuit boards!
The trick is not the etching itself which largely takes care of itself once the base material is immersed in the liquid. Nope, the trick is getting your template pin sharp on the substrate, be that copper or brass. There are several ways to do this.
The most popular at the moment seems to be using laser printed paper- the toner can be ironed off the paper and on to your base material, then immersed.
However there is another method I will be trying after the xmas holidays, but until I see the results I will stay quiet about, suffice to say I see an opening in the market for cheaper etched brass than what is available- come on a 25mm brass stanchion costs 72pence, no way!
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I will watch with interest Brian!!! :-))
For me, it is the cost of the prototype tooling by the 'specialists' that turned my hair grey. Over £130 for the set for the Free Enterprise. OK, the actual sheets AFTER the tooling has been done are not THAT eye watering, but they are still a considerable percentage of the overall costs......
And BTW, I do all my own drawing on the CAD and send them to the production company - and they STILL charge for prototyping!!!
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And BTW, I do all my own drawing on the CAD and send them to the production company - and they STILL charge for prototyping!!!
All of etched brass sheets I did for Model Slipway were drawn with CAD and then given their colours using CorelDraw (Black for no etch, red for half-etch and white for full etch). As you say, the etching company then made another charge for prototyping but I gather this was for the very high-definition photographic transparencies (or plates - never did find out which) used to transfer the images onto the brass sheet. It's a terrific way of producing high-quality small components but, as has been said, it's not cheap - even when you're buying 50-100 sheets at a time.
DM