Photo etch suppliers

[Dr PR]

I need a variety of photo etch parts for a couple of models I am working on. I have made some photo etch parts at home, bit I haven't been too successful with the fine detail parts.

 

I can produce the graphic images in many different formats.

 

Can anyone recommend a photo etch supplier?

[paul ron]

i wonder if you can use the stuff used to make diy electronic circuit boards? search amazon and found this...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=printed+circuit+board+etching+supplies&crid=32M7HVUEKZQ6L&sprefix=printed+circuit+board+etching+supplies%2Caps%2C102&ref=nb_sb_noss

 

 

[wefalck]

I wonder, whether there aren't any photo-etching service suppliers on your side of the pond that cater (also) for modellers? Over here in Europe we have several established in the market for years - I know one or two in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland (the latter two are price-wise quite competitve due to lower salaries).

 

I had a go at photo-etching myself a few years ago, but with mixed results. The main issues I identified was producing masks of sufficient black density with my printers and the primitive etching process in cuvettes I used. Even for the small frets I made uneven etching across the fret was a problem.

 

Our parts are quite different from PCBs, because we have parts that are to be etched through (no backing board) and we also etch in different layers (surface etching). Most home-made PCBs are also unlikely to have such fine and dense details as are required for modelling.

 

[paul ron]

ah the backing... i see the problem. 

 

laser etching... maybe ask a sign shop if they can help?

Edited January 11 by paul ron

[wefalck]

Professional etchers use either a foam- or a spray-etching process to achieve uniformity across the fret and reduce underetching of the edges.

 

One thing I will try one day is to laser-print the design onto so-called thermotransfer-paper and iron the design onto the prepared metal sheet. One has to make a sleeve from the thermotransfer-paper with mirror-images of the design matching up exactly, so that the etching takes place from both sides. This reduces underetching and allows surface etching (say rivets), if the two designs are made appropriately. The toner acts as the resists and one does not need a separate etching mask and photoresist covered metal sheets.

 

 

[Dr PR]

The problem I had with the home etching kit offered by one supplier is that the photo resist did not develop uniformly. This left thin invisible film "blotches" on the metal that protected it from the etchant. Some parts came out OK, but most of the fine detail pieces were ruined. Eventually I gave up on it.

 

I should say that I have been making printed circuit boards at home since the 1970s, so I am very familiar with metal etching. Of course those early PC boards had enormously wide traces and spaces (>0.05"/1.27 mm) compared to the last PC boards I designed before I retired (0.004"/0.1 mm traces and spaces).

 

You can use Sharpie permanent markers to draw patterns on brass/copper and then etch with a water solution of cupric chloride. The pen ink serves as a resist, and if you don't try to have very fine traces or gaps you can make some pretty simple etched parts. This is how I made my first hobby PC boards. However, this method won't work to etch from both sides of the sheet because you can't align patterns on both sides accurately enough (at least for small parts). It will work only on very thin metal.

Edited January 11 by Dr PR