Rapid enclosure prep for etching?

[statzern]

Anyone have any techniques or advice for consistent and rapid prep of enclosures for etching? Most people seem to use several grits of sand paper to prep, and about 30 min - 1 hour prep time per enclosure! This  is a lot of time! Wondering if there is any way to speed this up?

[vigilante397]

I don't chemical etch, but the process is still the same I use one of these for surface prep:



Makes the sanding a lot faster, and you can get different grits in easy-to-swap velcro-backed pads. I can get a box from freshly unwrapped to smooth and ready to go in 5-10 minutes.

On a side-note, has anyone else noticed that Tayda has switched enclosure suppliers and the quality is significantly better? I barely had to do any sanding on the last batch, they were already so smooth I was able to start at 240 grit.

[slashandburn]

Nothing wrong with a bit of elbow grease!   Ha. Actually, that's a lie, I'm incredibly fed up with sanding enclosures. So much so that 5 of my last 7 builds had zero effort put into enclosure finishing.  The other two probably won't get finished until next year.

I never got on well with the orbital type sanders Nathan recommends. Mines seemed to create dings on the surface it was supposed to be sanding smooth. Probably my technique. 

If I was forced at gunpoint to sand down a batch of enclosures I'd demand a belt sander two belt-sanders and a decent respirator or take the bullet.

[vigilante397]

I never got on well with the orbital type sanders

Actual orbital sanders can be messy, as they often have a wide enough radius to leave lovely circles all over whatever you're sanding. This is more of a vibrational sander (non-technical term) It doesn't really move much, just really small motions at a time and very easy to control. One of these days I'll actually buy a belt sander (or two) though.

[stringsthings]

A question for those who use an orbital sander?  How do you secure the enclosure so that it doesn't
move all around the place when sanding?  ( I know one person made a jig to screw the enclosure down )

[vigilante397]

How do you secure the enclosure so that it doesn't move all around the place when sanding?

I have a piece of thick carpet that I leave on the floor. Put the box on the carpet, sit down next to it and press down hard with the sander. The box stays where I put it.

[statzern]

Thanks for the replies guys -- I did use a palm sander in the past with mixed results. As slashandburn mentioned, I also seemed to get an uneven, streaky surface even with pretty fine grits with it. Maybe a matter of technique. I am thinking it might be good to use the power sander to get out the major pits and dings and then once I get to about 400+ grit then switch back over to the trusty sanding block.

This is definitely a topic worth of Nobel Prize if anyone comes up with a better way!!

[italianguy63]

I've come down to this... it works pretty well without TONS of effort.

Belt sand with 120 grit until you get it flat.

Block sand with 220 grit for awhile...  Not a whole ton.

Block sand with 320 grit for awhile... Not a whole ton.

Then hit with steel wool.   All the time sanding in ONE direction.  You end up with a "stainless steel" kind of look.

Wash with solvent.  After that, don't touch the surface and transfer any body oils!  (I'm careful not to touch the transfer sheet either)

Transfer.  Touch up any "holes" or pits in the transfer.  I use "paint" pens.

Found that 3M "edge seal" blue tape is awesome for taping the sides.

After the transfer... block sand again with 320 to take out shadows or pits.  Then hit it again with steel wool.

Finished product will have minor imperfections (scratches).  If you want to avoid them.. block sand longer.

This technique for me has eliminated a LOT of tedious paint masking.  I've been getting really good results without hours of prep.

MC

[amptramp]

There is a really quick method with a sandblasting gun:



In fact, if you have sheets of rubber or vinyl, you could paste them on and sandblast using them as a shield to give you an etch with the kind of speed that leaves chemical and electrolytic etching way behind (literally, leaves other etch techniques in its dust).

[italianguy63]

There is a really quick method with a sandblasting gun:



In fact, if you have sheets of rubber or vinyl, you could paste them on and sandblast using them as a shield to give you an etch with the kind of speed that leaves chemical and electrolytic etching way behind (literally, leaves other etch techniques in its dust).

Really?!  And I just sold my blast cabinet, and it was full of fine media!