sam system-d
Well-known member
Hi guys,
A quick topic to describe a method to do cool DIY faceplates.
I mean, I like the fact that people are offering kits with everything now, but I do prefer when I can do everything by myself.
And so far, my faceplates were just aluminium with black dots (slightly engraved) and decals.
Recently, I got some black 19" racks, so I had to find a way to label those.
I've been thinking about screen printing, I have few friends that could help me do that. But once more, that would require help from someone else. And I would not be able to do it whenever I need to.
I came across few videos about scale models using thin metal parts that you can etch/solder together. And then came the idea.
Stencil.
So after few tests, here come the first cool results :
Technique is simple.
- I got some brass plates with photo sensitve varnish from a hobbyist store (like small trains and stuff).
- Printed some transparent sheets with my designs or fonts. You have to do BOTH sides (top and bottom (mirrored))
Unlike a PCB, on the plates that I got, you print WHAT you WANT TO ETCH. took me 2 shots to figure it out... You always learn the hard way I guess.
- Put that under UV lamp (3:30min on each side in my case),
- Then a quick bath in NaOH (less concentrated than usual, therwise the photoresistive varnish just disappear) or so
- Dip in FeCl3 (mine was warm, no bubble this time, took about 25min I guess). Just take a look to check if everything goes right.
- Spray some paint after covering all the parts that need to stay black...
It's like doing a printed circuit again.
I hope this can help people to do more DIYs, I didn't find any infos on this technique but I'd say it's worth the effort IMO.
Have fun !
edit : as my pictures won't show up, here is a link to the album.
A quick topic to describe a method to do cool DIY faceplates.
I mean, I like the fact that people are offering kits with everything now, but I do prefer when I can do everything by myself.
And so far, my faceplates were just aluminium with black dots (slightly engraved) and decals.
Recently, I got some black 19" racks, so I had to find a way to label those.
I've been thinking about screen printing, I have few friends that could help me do that. But once more, that would require help from someone else. And I would not be able to do it whenever I need to.
I came across few videos about scale models using thin metal parts that you can etch/solder together. And then came the idea.
Stencil.
So after few tests, here come the first cool results :
Technique is simple.
- I got some brass plates with photo sensitve varnish from a hobbyist store (like small trains and stuff).
- Printed some transparent sheets with my designs or fonts. You have to do BOTH sides (top and bottom (mirrored))
Unlike a PCB, on the plates that I got, you print WHAT you WANT TO ETCH. took me 2 shots to figure it out... You always learn the hard way I guess.
- Put that under UV lamp (3:30min on each side in my case),
- Then a quick bath in NaOH (less concentrated than usual, therwise the photoresistive varnish just disappear) or so
- Dip in FeCl3 (mine was warm, no bubble this time, took about 25min I guess). Just take a look to check if everything goes right.
- Spray some paint after covering all the parts that need to stay black...
It's like doing a printed circuit again.
I hope this can help people to do more DIYs, I didn't find any infos on this technique but I'd say it's worth the effort IMO.
Have fun !
edit : as my pictures won't show up, here is a link to the album.
