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  #1  
Old 11-21-2005, 05:38 PM
rashid11 rashid11 is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 44
Question Q about etch-o-matic stencils

I got some E-O-M stencils and developer.

Before I got the stencils,
I also tried some home-made electro
etching with a lab power supply I have and salt
water etchant. Worked just fine.

The question I have now is: what happens to
the EOM stencils after I develop them:
will actual "holes" appear in the stencil
where developer eats the photoresist away ?

In other words, can I use my $0 home electro
etching thing with the developed etch-o-matic
stencils or do I need to spring for their
etchant and electrical unit ($69) from EOM ?
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Old 11-21-2005, 06:52 PM
Ray Rogers's Avatar
Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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A stencil is a stencil is a stencil. In other words, just about any stencil will work as long as whatever etching fluid you use can pass through it in the places where it should pass through.

When you develop the stencil the photo resist will be removed in the proper areas to form the logo you exposed to the material. This will NOT leave holes in the material as only the unexposed resist will be removed. Removing the unexposed resist uncovers the screen (usually silk or some similar close weave material) that is used to carry the resist. This exposed screen is porous and allows the exteching fluid to pass through to the steel.

I have an EOM and it works great but any power supply that delivers the correct voltages in AC and DC currents matched with a compatible etching fluid will produce a mark ....


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Old 11-26-2005, 09:34 AM
rashid11 rashid11 is offline
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Location: New Jersey
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My experience with the thing, for the benefit of the collective. To refresh, I bought some Dura-film stencils and developer, unfortunately no instructions came with it, so I did it all based on whatever I could find on the Net.


I designed a logo in a vector graphics SW (some examples: Adobe Illustrator, Coreldraw, Visio and countless redux variation of the same).

Came to about 1/2 long, 3/8 tall oval-ish thing.
Pretty fine print with some calligraphy in the middle. Cheesy 'nuff.

Printed out A POSITIVE on a transparency and cut it to a smaller size with 3 logos on a strip 4x2.

In relatively dimly lit room I took one 4x4 Dura-film stencil out of pack, cut it in half so I had a 2x4 piece of it.

Put it down on a table, put transparency on top of it (I didn't use any extra glass on top of it,
stayed pretty flat by itself).

About 2 feet above the table I had a UV light mounted in a lamp. The UV light bulb you can get dirt
cheap at any pet supply stores - these emit UV-rich light to keep pet reptiles warm. Get one that emist 400-ish nm light. The lamp was
$5 clamp-on-lamp thing from Home Depot.

After aligning stuff properly, I flipped the switch on for few mins: 3-5.

Now, turn the light off and still operating in a dim light, just to be safe, peel off protective film off both sides of the exposed stencil. YOu MUST remove the film, or it won't develop.


Drop the stencil into a plastic container - smaller size one, pour in some developer and agitate for couple of minutes. After about a minute into development, start checking on the stenci to see if you have nice clear image developed. Wash under running water to remove developer,
let it dry. Be gentle with the wet stencil.

Pour the developer back into the bottle, it is reusable.


Now you're ready to etch your designs. goto http://www.bladegallery.com/information/info_etch.... and read up. I recommend spending a buck or two for proper electric etching solution - lotsa sites sell it. Not sure if anyone here can tell us the secret formula so that we can make it at home
.

You'd need to practice on a piece of scrap metal -the same one you use for your knifes, heat-treated.

Start with DC, go for a few seconds at time, try interrupted etch - when you lift the pad off the stencil every second or so.

Try doing AC etching at the end of DC - this will
color the etch black. To do that you'd need to shunt the diode in above recipe with a piece of wire. May be even spring for a switch.

Write down the proper timing/sequence when you like the results and now you're ready to mark yer own masterpieces.

Last edited by rashid11; 11-26-2005 at 01:24 PM.
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