KPR photoresist

[tardishead]

Hey guys - in my quest for panel etching information I discovered that alot of guys in the past used to get black anodised panels - develop artwork with KPR photoresist and then etch away the anodise with caustic soda.
there was even a product caled fotofoil which was exactly this and MOOG used it for their modular panels
sounds great hey.
problem is - I am in Australia and I cannot find KPR anywhere. I think it was bought by Cookson Electronic but I cant be sure.
It does exist in UK still to this day I think. but getting it over here might be a problem.
what I need is info on the manufacturer and if they have a distributor in Australia.
It has to be KPR because most photoresists used for copper PCBs will disolve when washed with Lye/caustic soda. Trust me I have tried quite a few

 

[tardishead]

if you are in USA - cronite.com will stock this product.
nobody interested in this thread - we can make pro anodise front panels with this stuff

 

[rlaury]

We used PhotoFoil on all the early Auditonics stuff. The 501 and and the 110. A company called MetalPhoto bought PhotoFoil. Like you mentioned, It's anodized aluminum plates coated with KPR, developed with a form of MEK and etched with caustic soda. It's still available in the US and I'm sure they will ship to the UK. It's nasty stuff, but it sure looks good.

http://www.horizonsisg.com/metalphoto/

Good Luck!
RonL
http://www.nashaudio.com

 

[tardishead]

metalphoto is slightly different - it has a layer of photographic inks embedded in the anodise layer which you develop with certain chemicals.
The graphic therefore is contained within the anodise . Definitely cool stuff but quite expensive hey?

I think the fotofoil etch method is better because it can be really cheap and its something alot of people can emulate at home
what would be cool is if we can get someone with a dip coating machine to coat loads of alu panels in KPR - ready for the DIYer to expose and etch for himself. Anyone know people in the chemical machining business?

trouble is people in PCM industry are very secretive about their processes and generally are not very helpful

 

[tardishead]

Hey guys
the original KPR style photoresist is available in US
But there is a more up to date product that is available
EAGLE NT90 and 2005 developer - Rohm & Haas
you can get it from chestech.com in UK for sure and probably alot of other places

so you get black anodised aluminium
cover with photoresist
expose with artwork and UV
develop
etch the exposed areas to reveal shiny metal but leaves rest of the black anodise on

 

[tardishead]

I am ordering some Eagle NT90 photoresist this week - hopefully I will be able to post some of the results on this forum very soon. Some panels that I will etch.

The Metalphoto is a good route aswell it seems. It is actually alot cheaper than I thought. I am sure it works out cheaper than Frontpanel Express - and at the end of the day I think it looks better. Bearing in mind you can use pretty much any artwork you want