Etched engine maker's plate

I want a small fairly detailed stationary engine manufacturer's plate to be etched. A search on here doesn't bring up any names, so I'm asking the readership for suggestions. A google search lists several plate engravers and laser plate makers. The etchers that I have found concentrate on small scale railway stuff or larger scale engine name/number plates, etc.

I did have one guy who was going to do it for me, but after 9 months I'm still waiting because he has 'domestic problems'.

It has to be etched because the plate thickness will be not more than 30 thou with the area removed about half the original thickness.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Have you tried Fox, look under "made to measure" for bespoke etching

Using a laser printer and ferric chloride would probably work quite well at that depth of etch. heres a southbend lathe QC Gear box plate i did and it was my first attempt.

Edited By mark smith 20 on 26/03/2017 09:53:45

Mark

I would be interested in a description of the steps you took to produce that plate if you wouldn't mind.

Cheers

Phil

Dave, At risk of offering a link to one you've already checked out, I offer this one to click on. They are used quite a lot by my colleagues on a few Vintage Machinery Forums. Won't be cheap though!.-

- Etched Plates-

Regards

Phil,

Its quite simple the hardest part is painting the plate.

I bought a cheap used laser printer off ebay.In my case a Samsung ML-1860. It had half the original toner cartridge still in (worked great) and later found out that cheap compatable toner cartridges dont work very well.

I printed out the reverse image onto mylar drafting film using the best quality and blackest print settings.

I then placed it over the brass plate which was cleaned and polished before hand with alcohol or acetone and ironed the mylar on a hot setting .

Carefully and slowly peeled off the mylar before it cooled too much and it leaves the black toner as a mask on the brass plate.If all goes well it should look like this.

I then coated the back with a couple of coats of shellac,quick drying acrylic varnish will do,just to stop etching on the back of the plate.

I then prepared a simple warm bath of ferric chloride in an old icecream tub. I didnt take much notice of the strength of the solution but probably about 25gms in 1/2 litre of water.

Then just put it in the bath and gently tilted the tub occasionally to keep te solution a bit agitated.

You can use a very soft brush to brush the surface but after a while the toner becomes sensitive to abrasion.

Heres a different plate in the bath.

Thats basically it ,clean off the toner with a dish cleaner scruber (like the scotchbrite pads).

I use photo etching, bit expensive for a one-off unless you use sunlight as a UV source.

Neil

Simpler version of Mark Smith's method is to print on the paper here: **LINK** then iron on to work.

Regards,

Richard.

When using ferric chloride to do the etching, it is worth remembering that oxygen is a catalyst to the reaction, and increasing the strength of the solution will actually slow things down. I was warned about this by a technician at a firm from which I scrounged some photo etch chemicals.

Maurice

Maurice , i noticed this when i add more ferric chloride to the bath,it stopped the reaction.

The film that forms prevents the reaction and its a fine balance using the toner method between carefully brushing the surface with a soft brush and removing parts of the toner(which you dont want until your finished). If your not going very deep then just agitating the bath works.

I think i added some citric acid to the bath as well but cant remember, may have been something else.

Hi Mark

This is why I thought I would pass on what I was told by the technician. The firm used to bubble the ferric chloride through a piece foam rubber to ensure plenty of oxygen would be present. I was advised to bubble plenty of air through the solution before use, and not to use too strong a solution.

Maurice

Some time ago I requested etched plate suppliers details because my original contact had domestic problems and was unable to assist me.

Contacting the suggested possible etchers did not prove fruitful, but lo and behold my original etcher came back soon afterwards and said the plates were ready. I'm very pleased with his work and considering the condition of the original plate from which he had to work from, and the small size of the replica I would say it is a a job well done. The cost was very reasonable, too.

If anyone needs etched name plates, then I would have no hesitation in recommending Peter's Plates
http://www.petersplates.co.uk/

Dave
The Emerald Isle

Is Peter's Plates currently accepting orders ?

It appears from his website that is not the case, pity because I need one doing myself at some point.

Phil

Well I have now tried gargoyling motor oil, and it leaves a pretty bad taste in the mouth, and it didn't result in any etching, just retching...

Neil

Phil

Give him a holler. I've had to wait about 9 months for these. If I've got mine, maybe he's back in business pre-domestic situation.

Dave
The Emerald Isle

"I use photo etching, bit expensive for a one-off unless you use sunlight as a UV source.

Neil"

Not necessarily so, here's a little contraption I made with aluminumm sheet, pop rivets and parts from the scrap box when I bought some photoresist PCB laminate at a fair; the vendor told me I could use a Philips TL 8 W tube (standard tube, but it seems they "leak" some UV radiation) for 90 seconds at a distance of 7 cm.

You simply put the "mask" (artwork on a printed drafting paper, best with a laser printer, but inkjet was about the same) on the pcb, a piece of glass over the two ( I quickly took it from a small display case I have, just to show that I'm a casual pcb "developer"...) and this gadget on top.

Results where consistent ( I always turned it on for a few minutes before using it on the pcb, to be sure that it had reached it's working temperature) radiation bounces on the inner walls. Working area 32x13 cm, TL tube axis height (guess...) 7 cm.

I searched now, and found that you can buy UV TL tubes, anyway I think that a standard tube is safer, as the exposition time is longer and plus\minus a couple of seconds won't ruin your pcb.

Anyway experiment on small samples of the pcb laminate you have before trying "full size".

Cheers,

Massimo