Etched enclosures

[Kitarist]

I would like to ask if its normal for etch to leave black weird color on the enclosure that you have to sand down?

This happened to two of my etches and first i thought its the etching substance and change it to something else and same thing happened...

Anyone got a clue why this happens?

Could it be the laser printer "color"? (Using the laser and heat method to put the label on the enclosure)

[deadastronaut]

do you mean the toner goes greyish when ironed on?.. that is normal.

or the metal part that is etched?...if so that is why most of us give it a shot of black to make it more defined (matt in my case)

[Entropic_Dissonance]

Back with three more pedals
MXR Distortion II
Univox Super-Fuzz (first pedal I ever built, gave the enclosure an overhaul)
EHX Big Muff (Op-Amp version)

[Hexjibber]

Catalinbread SFT / Madbean Faultline

[garcho]

^ jaw dropping, bravo!

[wildebelor]

Sonic Violence with FAC depth control!

[Hexjibber]

Ross Comp

[Hexjibber]

Sonic Violence with FAC depth control!

Really like the look of these man! The oversize enclosure is cool, what size are they? I've got a Pharaoh to build and have been thinking about doing a big box for it.

What circuit is it btw?

[wildebelor]

Really like the look of these man! The oversize enclosure is cool, what size are they? I've got a Pharaoh to build and have been thinking about doing a big box for it.

What circuit is it btw?

It's a heavy modded rat with the FAC control - secret sauce!

[Hexjibber]

It's a heavy modded rat with the FAC control - secret sauce!

Cool, I've still not built a Rat yet, was thinking about doing a pedal that stacks two together for some ultra doom! I'm a Sunn O))) fan haha! Do they need fiddling with to get a good low end from or are they ok stock?

Also could you tell me what size enclosure that is, I think I've found one similar that is 146mm x 120mm, I quite like the idea of doing a bigger box as I've mainly stuck to 1590Bs so far. I've got a Pharaoh build to do so a big enclosure seems appropriate!

[wildebelor]

Yeah I'm about to go see them play with Earth! It's going to be amazing.
I think it's a 1590DD enclosure.
It's also pretty excellent stock! My Laney AOR has the pots you can pull to add extra boost in frequencies… I dime my bass and pull the pot for huge bass.
That being said, two rats together isn't anything as special as I thought it would be.
A rat and heavier fuzz of some kind (maybe a dark meathead) would be what I would do!

 

[Hexjibber]

Yeah I'm about to go see them play with Earth! It's going to be amazing.

I saw them with a quadraphonic PA set up a couple of years ago, nowhere to hide! Was brutal!! Amazing though. Hope you enjoy/did enjoy the gig!

A rat and heavier fuzz of some kind (maybe a dark meathead) would be what I would do!

Now that is a great idea, definitely got the ol' cogs turning!

[mikitz]

A couple bees... one has a bear (foot), one does not.

[Hexjibber]

These look great man! Very neat job on the etching and I like the use of colour, I keep thinking about trying a reverse etch with colour myself but it's still on the to-do list!

[deadastronaut]

+1 , thry have a nice retro look about them colour wise...nice.


@hex: of all the etches ive done ive never done a reverse either....one day eh..

[Hexjibber]

@hex: of all the etches ive done ive never done a reverse either....one day eh..

Yeah man, I've done a few reverse jobs but always just stuck with good ol' black enamel for some reason!

A reverse one I did recently;


Seen some great looking ones using colour instead, they can really pop out!

Check these out, from a chap (selfdestroyer) over on the Madbean forum, I think they look great;

[deadastronaut]

yeah i see what you mean, very nice..

the black is classic though..your design with the green jewel looks the nuts with that grill at the bottom too. cool.

i'm surprised that a lot of people ake photos without the led/light on...(avoiding glare i guess) but i love a good light.

[duck_arse]

A couple bees... one has a bear (foot), one does not.

very subtle. I would say very minimalist too, but I keep wondering "where did all that metal go?" where did all that metal go? how deep an etch did you do (I hope the answer is "a minimal amount")?

seems to be a lot of yellow in builds lately.

[greaser_au]

...but I keep wondering "where did all that metal go?" where did all that metal go?...

Probably down the dunny (with the etchant),  mate!   
david

[mikitz]

Thanks for the nice comments. I used Tremclad (same as Rustoleum) and then regular enamel to get a deeper yellow... although next time I'd just do all tremclad. Lighter colours like yellow are a pain to cover (for me anyway).

I've made 9 pedals so far and still reusing the same ferric chloride! Found a great post from Mark Hammer for disposing of Ferric Chloride when the time comes.. http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=50426.msg377103#msg377103