Electro Etching on Steel, Brass, Aluminum, Copper, and Stainless Steel!
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- Опубликовано: 14 июн 2024
- Like most of the planet, we're stuck at home during the coronavirus pandemic. So, we decided to use this time to learn something new!
Join us as we dabble with the art of electro-etching on various kinds of metals. It's a very simple process, using basic materials that you probably already have in the house. We used a vinyl cutter and a small DC power supply, but you could do the same thing with electric tape, a 9-volt battery, some saltwater and a couple pieces of wire!
You can use this technique to personalize tools, knives, cups- pretty much anything made of metal.
BE SAFE! This is a low voltage, fairly safe activity, but it still involves electricity, heat, and maybe a few fumes! We knew the risks ahead of time, so we felt safe tackling it. Make sure you know the risks before trying it yourself.
Oh yeah, if by some miracle you read the entire description, please comment with "Looks like Sam needs a haircut!" 
Хобби
Switch the polarity for the aluminum (and maybe the brass as well) and you'll get a lot better etch. For added contrast, switch to low voltage A/C after you etch it (and before you take the vinyl off) and it'll turn it black. It works on steel, not sure on AL or any of the others. You can try a doorbell transformer for the A/C supply.
Copper and vinegar make verdigris, just like the Statue of Liberty as you noted.
Really enjoying the variety of projects.
Hello from an English armour-maker in a French forest!
What a great relationship you two have! It sure beats me watching my dad fall asleep in front of the wrestling!! 😂🤣🏆🇬🇧
Thank you so much!
Awesome video guys- thanks for your help ✌️
DUDE!
FREAKIN EPIC!
I have a friend that wants sacred geometry on metal. Thanks to you guys I have my solution.
Thank you so much for shareing.
Glad we could help. Thanks for watching!
Great video! Thank you!
You're welcome!
Cool! Thanks!
Thanks you for
Thanks a million for this video, this is exactly the process I was searching for.
You're welcome! Glad we could help.
Cup=Badass
pretty cool you dont need expensive chemicals
Also for people trying this it won’t work properly on anodized. I watched to see results on brass so thank you guys. What I often use is a small arc welder set on low. For my acid pad I wrap a cotton pad and electrical tape it. It works great and quick on aluminum
Thanks for the additional info. Good tips!
I just got thru trying to do this on a mug for Mother's day. Went out to the car , and used the 12 volt off the battery. Way too many amps. It boiled the vinal off. Will sand it to a shine and try again.
nice and cool ❤️❤️❤️
Thanks! I think you are officially our biggest fan.
@@anticsgarage5230 off course my friend ;)
Copper oxidises or rusts bluish green
I was wondering what the output is on the adapter you used. I have quite a few of spare adapters and a piece of brass I want to etch. Thanks!
Ours was 12 volts DC, 2.5 amps. You don't need that much, though. I've seen this work with a 9 volt battery. Any DC source will probably work just fine, but some will be faster than others.
Hi. It is dangerous to electro etch with salt water?
Don't know what the reaction is called tho
Turns blue because copper is reacting to the vinegar like electroplating solution is made
So could copper eletro platiig solution be made by simply dropping clean copper rod , or whatever into a vinegar and adding electricity DC??? I know they don't give that stuff away.
So could you actually etch all the way through and produce gears using the same technique over a longer time? ( Submerged in the electrolyte, rather than with qtip)
I suppose you could technically, but the edges would get pretty messy. With etching like this, there's no way to make the etch go straight up and down, so the deeper you go, the "blurrier" the edges would be. Really thin material, with a resist on both sides might work.
You can etch all the way through but it’s a lot of etching and not the results you hope for.
Yes, this is done regularly in industry.
Etch something on busta lime
That's nice, I've done some stainless, but searching for etching aluminum I found this. Now I know you can do copper and brass also. Makes me wonder whether that would work on nickel? As far as technique goes, I think dabbing instead of sliding would help with the swirl marks.
Thanks! I think you're right about the technique. A little more practice and I'm sure we could get it a lot cleaner. Definitely give aluminum a try - it worked great.
How do you determine which is positive and negative terminal?
On a typical wall wart/dc adapter, the center pin is usually positive and the outer ring is negative. They should be labeled. If you're planning on cutting the plug off anyway, you can "dissect" the plug and figure out which wire connects to the center pin. Hope that helps.
@@anticsgarage5230 thanks
The blue comes from Cu 2+ ions that comes with the oxyddation reaction of Cu(s) -> Cu2+(aq) + 2e- going on there I think
Brass is an alloy of copper + zinc- Like 80% or something copper.
This is so stupid, why don't you just immerse the workpiece in a saltwater bath, switch on the current and leave it there until finished ???
This process can be done on small areas of larger objects that are difficult or impossible to submerge. Plus you only have to apply resist to a small area instead of all sides of a larger part. Or I'm just stupid, I guess.