DIY Etcher/ Marker

[Mike Martinez]

After seeing a few post on the subject on another board, I decided to try and make one of these bad boys. Two hours and 25 dollars later, here it is.

[When my stencils come in I'll post results but so far so good on test pieces] [It runs 18VAC and 18VDC]

 

[zbq]

Any possibility of getting a link to the instructions?
Looks like something that would be fairly easy to do for a newbie like myself.
Thanks

 

[Mike Martinez]

Zaph1 posted this in another forum. Here is the link to his site, once you're on his site, hit the $20 etcher link. If you have any question, just shoot me a PM, I'm making another one soon.

http://www.atlasknife.com/

 

[zbq]

Thanks!

 

[zaph1]

Thanks for the reference! I'd like to add a little that hasn't made it to the instructions yet.

I've learned that pulsed DC works better for etching. Yes, a constant DC current will etch, a pulsed DC current will etch sharper and more quickly. In lieu of making your own pulsed etcher, which is very slightly less simple, add a push button activator in line with the output. I initially used the AC/DC selector to rapidly select DC/off. After testing, I found that an arcade machine fire button works best. You can get them for around $2-3 on eBay and they hold up very well to tapping repeatedly. 10 taps at each spot works great.

Here's a sample of large image etching.

 

[Mike Martinez]

Thank you for the tip and the tutorial. I'm currently working on version of this machine using a little more voltage and now, some sort of pulsing button. :happy:

 

[zaph1]

If you skip the DC transformer and user a rectifier instead, you will get 60hz pulsed DC signal. If you install a capacitor it will be smoothed, without the capacitor it is pulsed. It should work much better. An 50 amp rectifier is $1.59 on eBay, or you can use four diodes for about $1.10.