Anybody know........??????

Thanks for the update Anthony - I wonder what makes the carbon work better as the pad since it's isolated from the stencil by the felt pad that's the actual carrier for electrolyte? I'll have to try that - should have an old carbon brush lying around somewhere. If not, they are cheap from China...... I sure hate buying from China, but darn - they are so cheap! The price of some things can you imagine actual price from factory?

Ken H>
 
I think the carbon is just a better conductor and so far it doesn't seem to react with the etchant. I noticed it was starting to affect the stainless one I made, especially at the connection to the lead wire. I'm with you on buying from China, but I do it more than I like. I live near a very small town and the nearest "big" town isn't very big, so when I can pop into ebay and pay 98 cents for 2 carbon brushes, what do you do? My old truck uses 98 cents of gas just going up to the mailbox!
 
Ed, just use motor brushes. You can find them via a ton of sources, even eBay.

Get the ones that have a wire already embedded in them.
Something like this for example.

Check it out.
[video=youtube;z3i3h4v27As]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3i3h4v27As[/video]...

Brian, reviving an old subject, but after watching your video on your etching pad, I made one like it and I've loved it. That is, up until now. I'd say I've etched about 20 marks with it so far, spread out over about a year. My etcher quit on me the other night and after a little troubleshooting I found the problem.

The copper wire that's imbedded in the carbon brush had corroded/disintegrated inside my wand. I'm guessing the etchant solution is soaking through the brush itself and eat away at the copper lead. Wondering if you'd ever had that problem? Wondering if there's a different quality brush that's less permeable?
 
Never had any trouble with mine, and I used it for a few years!

I have a laser now, so I haven't used mine in a couple of years.

Fortunately, they are cheap!
 
Brian, reviving an old subject, but after watching your video on your etching pad, I made one like it and I've loved it. That is, up until now. I'd say I've etched about 20 marks with it so far, spread out over about a year. My etcher quit on me the other night and after a little troubleshooting I found the problem.

The copper wire that's imbedded in the carbon brush had corroded/disintegrated inside my wand. I'm guessing the etchant solution is soaking through the brush itself and eat away at the copper lead. Wondering if you'd ever had that problem? Wondering if there's a different quality brush that's less permeable?

Tape off the graphite and spray some lacquer on the copper wire.
 
Laurence, don't think that would help. The copper wire or lead on the carbon was corroded in two all the way down in the brush. It went bad from the inside out. Where the wire was soldered or tinned, it was fine. It was a cheap brush from China, maybe that's the problem. I'm going to look around for some non-China stuff this time and see if it makes a difference.
 
Good thing they are almost free, and take about 10 minutes to make!

Build 2-4 of them next time, and it'll probably only take 20 minutes, since you can duplicate procedures.

Ought to be good for the next few years then, for $20, and less than an hours time!
 
"Now I just use my laser"..... bragging aren't we? (grinning), and I don't blame you at all. A laser of that size would be just too cool! AND you are 100% correct, the pad itself has nothing to do with current draw, that is determined by amount of opening in stencil and type of electrolyte, and voltage used. All the pad needs to be is a conductor such as brass, or a semi-conductor as in carbon/graphite. A motor brush would work great.

Ken H>
 
I'd forgotten all about this thread! Thanks for bringing it back to the top Ken. I did as Brian suggested and found a couple of huge motor brushes at a local electric motor repair shop....they just gave them to me. I kept one as a spare, and ground the other down to about 1" wide and mounted it to a handle....been working great ever since.

Steve Kelly and I were talking about lasers just a couple of days ago.... I wasn't aware of all the cool things that a knifemaker can do with them. Then Steve told me he had checked into the price(s) on them....and I just about choked. :) For what they want for one of those things..... I think I could mostly outfit a finish shop! Oh...and Brian.....your name was spoken several times during that conversation! :) (yeah.....there was some "toy envy") :)
 
I was hoping that the prices had come down from the last time I had looked into it. I was hoping that with the improvements in 3D printing that it would have trickled down some. I will have to look into what somebody could do DIY for fun. I was poking around a bit and it looks like getting a strong enough laser at a reasonable price will be the biggest hang up. I need to go full on geek mode now :D.
 
Sry to bring up an old thread, but just thought I would toss it out there for general consumption, I made my handblock out of copper. Seems to etch well on steel or aluminum. Much more conductive than normal carbon and so far I have no pitting on the surface.
 
There's nothing "special" about their graphite, I doubt that they're having there graphite specially formulated...it'd cost them a fortune. ANY conductive metal will work. All you're doing is passing the electrical current on to the electrolyte. You could use copper, aluminum, steel, or carbon all equally well. As one of the other posters had stated, motor brushes are naturally suited to this application and have the advantage of already having a wire connected to them.
 
.... I made my handblock out of copper...

I made my first one with a piece of brass or copper and it worked, but the green oxidation was mess. Then I tried stainless steel, but again oxidation and crud. After switching to carbon brushes, no mess. I like them a ton better than the others I tried.
 
I made my first one with a piece of brass or copper and it worked, but the green oxidation was mess. Then I tried stainless steel, but again oxidation and crud. After switching to carbon brushes, no mess. I like them a ton better than the others I tried.


Agree. I've tried a number if different materials, including some type of fancy smancy alloyed brush, and the oxidation after just a couple of uses was a pain. If there's anything better than a carbon brush, I've yet to see it...
 
I've mostly been etching aluminum lowers lately. I get a much deeper etch using the copper rather than a carbon handblock. I haven't noticed any build of green oxidization so far.






Here is a reject blade I etched....

 
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This is one of the more helpful threads I've read in a while. My ghetto setup may need some upgrading after reading this. Currently, it's saltwater, q-tips, and my plug in battery charger.... Shocking, but I don't get the most consistent etching with this... :rolleyes:

Jeremy

The material I use to go over the wand is the synthetic Deer Skin, like you wipe down a Auto, Truck or Bike with, Sham Wow will do the job just fine too!

I just scissor cut a rectangle and use a rubber band or pull it tight over the wand, A dip in Solution and I drag it across the taped down stencil with a squirt of Window under the stencil
 
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