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Puckdropper

(J T) wrote in
:

Mon, Oct 22, 2007, 10:29am (EDT+4)
(Mekon) doth sayeth:
Writing 20 words four times with a scroll saw? I'd be dead before I
finished!

If you're gonna repeat the same thing over and over, or just want
to burn your logo or whatever, no prob. Make a branding iron. No
biggie. You need a piece of brass about 1/8 thick. (hobby shop)
ferric chloride eching solution (radio shack) paint and small brush or
a felt marker. Paint, or draw, the design on the brass backwards.
drop in echant until thel design is raised quite a bit. Then wash it
with water. and remove the paint. (NOTE: I have NOT done this;
however, I have used a similar [or the same] etching solution to etch
glass [for glass it is a paste, apply with a small brush], using
stencils. Wear rubber gloves [don't forget and scratch your nose or
rub your ear], rinse under cold running water, use common sense; just
remember, this is at your own risk. You can use a large electric
soldering iron for heat - braze, or silver solder, the branding iron
on. Or afix to a steel rod, and head with a propane torch. I'd say
put a wooden handle on. No biggie. If I ever change my mind about
just gluing a business card on the bottom or inside of whatever, I'll
make one for myself. If I run across a piece of brass, may just make
one anyway.

JOAT

I have done something extremely similar to this... etching my own PC
board. (In fact, I'm preparing to make a few more. It's not the 20
minutes in the etchant that's important, it's the 120 minutes spent
preparing that are!)

Ferric Chloride is something to read up on before you do anything with
it. It stains fast and permanent, and I'd never use it in a container
that would ever be used for food, even after a thorough cleaning. It
will etch away metals quite readily, and it seems to me there's
something about glass... If you take the time to read up on Ferric
Chloride (take a look at some of the PC board making sites), you can
handle it safely and effectively.

With the method JOAT described, you may run in to problems with the
etchant eating around your paint. I don't have a solution for this, but
maybe someone else does.

Puckdropper
--
Wise is the man who attempts to answer his question before asking it.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm