Etching Effects Pedal Boxes

[jswingchun]

Tammojsmit ask me to post how I did the acid etching on the effects pedal boxes like this.

Instead of posting how I did it, here is a link to a tutorial.

http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/main. ... y/album24/

I used glossy inkjet photo paper printed on a laser printer instead of the PnP in the tutorial above. Here are a couple of links about using photo paper. They reference making circuit boards, but the concept is the same on boxes.

http://modman.blogdrive.com/archive/20.html
http://modman.blogdrive.com/archive/30.html

I also used muriatic acid mixed with peroxide to etch instead of what was used in the tutorial. I don't recall the exact mix of the two, it's been a while. It's dangerous stuff!! Use it outside and wear proper protection!!

I would suggest you can search around on diystompboxes.com for more detailed information if you decide to take this project on.

I can try to answer questions about this, but I have only done it a couple of times on boxes along with a couple of PCBs.

PS - I never thought of this before, but a guy could make pretty cool badges for cabs with this technique...

[Harley]

Thanks for that.

You may have just solved my problem for nameplates on my cabs.

[bzb]

Very cool stuff! Would this work on just about any aluminum? Where would you source some badges?

[bitSmasher]

That looks great, I need to make some boxes for DIY stuff I have going right now - noise making toys of sorts - but it's a bit too much effort for my liking

[jswingchun]

Thanks for that. You may have just solved my problem for nameplates on my cabs.

Yeah, I thought of that application too as I finished that post.

Very cool stuff! Would this work on just about any aluminum? Where would you source some badges?

It should work fine on any aluminum. I haven't thought that far ahead as to where I would source the materials for badges.

That looks great, I need to make some boxes for DIY stuff I have going right now - noise making toys of sorts - but it's a bit too much effort for my liking

Yeah, it's a bit of work. The results are good, but it takes some effort. None of the steps are too difficult, but there are a lot of steps and it's messy, smelly and dangerous.

[bitSmasher]

Exactly, it's simple enough but too many steps in the process where an error could occur.
My birth date dictates me as being part of the instant gratification generation.
I'm looking at playing with print-on decal transfers, Lazertran is one brand, should be interesting to see the results.

[BrentEvans]

You may have just solved my problem for nameplates on my cabs.

Sounds like a goodie for Leland's kits.

[jswingchun]

You may have just solved my problem for nameplates on my cabs.

Sounds like a goodie for Leland's kits.

This process wouldn't be good for mass producing nameplates. It's too time consuming and complicated. It would be fine for someone wanting to produce a few for themselves. It's more like an art process than a manufacturing process.