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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 01-02-2015, 10:25 AM
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Poor Man's Etching/Marking Supply

If you are handy and want to save a buck, you may want to take a peek a my tutorial on how to hack an old-school AC adapter and a few parts into a workable etcher and marker (DC/AC).
You probably want to have a soldering iron, but I know lots of you remember your Radio Shack roots. :-)


Highlights...















The series starts here:
http://dcknives.blogspot.ca/p/poor-m...er-supply.html

All the best in 2015!

Dan
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  #2  
Old 01-02-2015, 10:47 AM
Robe338 Robe338 is offline
 
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Looks like I've found the next tool I'm gonna make I think I've got all the parts laying around. I actually used your heat treat oven plans as the base for my oven. Thanks.
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Old 01-02-2015, 11:12 AM
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Very nice, Dan!

I not only remember my Radio Shack roots, I even have my original RCA analog VOM from Olsen Electronics that I bought new 50 years ago ....


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Old 01-02-2015, 11:46 AM
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Only us antique tech guys know what a VOM is. Too funny.
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Old 01-02-2015, 04:07 PM
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Dan,

I didn't look through all the details on your site concerning this type of etcher so maybe you already have something like this. This could be an even simpler build since it does not require you to cut open the power supply: http://www.ebay.com/itm/US12V-AC-Ada...7325ec&vxp=mtr

This is an 12vAC supply that sells for $6 brand new including delivery. Lots of similar AC supplies on eBay for under $15. Take one of these, add a diode for 6vDC and seems to me you'd be about done unless I'm missing something ...


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Old 01-02-2015, 07:52 PM
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Ray. Yes another way to skin the cat would be the AC adapter and an external diode or bridge rectifier. Either way you need a DPDT switch, so dollar-wise about the same.

I like the fact that the bridge and cap are all included in the DC adapter, even if it means hack sawing it apart and tapping on to the transformer. (Guys like me like cutting things open to see what's inside.)

Dan
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Old 01-02-2015, 08:49 PM
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You wouldn't necessarily need the switch, it could be done the way Etch-O-Matic does it. Cut the end off the power supply cord, attach your etching pad to one wire and on the other just put an aligator clip. Take another alligator clip and solder your diode to it, then cover it with shrink tubing leaving only the non-soldered end of the diode exposed. Now clip the diode into the alligator clip that is on the power supply and you have DC, remove it and you have AC. And that's the whole thing right there ...


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Old 01-02-2015, 09:20 PM
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Wow that is simple!
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  #9  
Old 01-03-2015, 06:52 AM
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Still got my Olsen VOM too!
Even got a few bread boards boxed up somewhere.
Buddy of mine made one from one of those elcheapo battery chargers from HF, no cutting required.


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Old 01-03-2015, 08:44 AM
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Carl,

I have the bread boards too! Still have my original soldering pad and stand, a 'dial-a-resistance' box, some spools of wire, and various small tools all from 50 years ago. That stuff came from Olsens, can't tell you how many times I walked into Radio Shack and made them an offer on everything they had on their clearance table. Ah, the good old days when junk was cheap ....


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Old 01-03-2015, 09:55 AM
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Do you think this would work?



It's half-wave rectified, so it will take a little longer to etch. Not a big deal for most people and will probably save on stencils in the long haul.

AC Adapter from eBay or Second Hand Store.
6A diode and clips can be found at Radio Shack.

Should be able to do this under $10.

:-)

Dan
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Old 01-03-2015, 10:41 AM
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That should work as long as you were careful not to let the open end of the diode touch anything when it shouldn't. I would change the power supply to 12vAC so that the half wave part will be 6v DC simply because that's the rating used by the Etch-O-Matic and I can get a great mark from that on stainless in 25 seconds on each pass (AC and DC). Carbon steel will etch faster. The 'Professional' etchers that sell for a couple hundred dollars use higher voltages but I've tried them and see no advantage to us in having any more than 12vAc for marking a common sized logo ....


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Old 01-03-2015, 11:12 AM
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A blob of silicone to hold the diode to the adapter case. :-)

Dan
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  #14  
Old 01-04-2015, 05:33 AM
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Yeah, old school electronics pretty much gone. Bet you messed with a few Heath Kits in your adventures. I found my old cigar box radio at my Mom's several years ago (she never threw anything out). Still worked on one "D" cell.
Did instrumentation for 16yrs. (ITA Certified) in water/wastewater plants.....talk about an adventure. Every form of instrumentation one could imagine from float on a string to nuclear density meters. I got dubbed the "Dragon Slayer", because I could get anything up and running. Just wasn't pull & replace back then, we took them down to the board troubleshooting. Ahh yes, those were the days...waste deep in wastewater fixing a level sensor and hoping the operator was smart enough to read a "TAG OUT" up stairs,
(not always the case, mind you).
Still got 3#'s of a 5# spool of high grade solder. Comes in handy every once in a while.


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Old 01-04-2015, 08:45 AM
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Ya, there were some Heath Kits around my house. I remember making a crystal radio from a toilet paper roll and some wire. My 7th grade science project was an analog computer built in a cigar box - it could multiply two small numbers and display an answer on a dial. When I was 12 I built a motor with a lot of wire and some iron nails and two permanent magnets.

The first computer I ever programmed was an IBM 401 accounting machine. That machine was before punch cards, it had a big bread board type panel that you plugged wires into to tell it what you wanted it to do. Then you swapped those boards to change programs. We've come a lone way, baby ....


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