WTB cheap, maybe faulty Vamos, new pic, first etch ;-)

[Deleted]

Mar 26, 2013 15:39:10 GMT robby said:

Ash kindly donated some old chrome vamo tubes, after a bit of work, got one down to copper and the top down to brass and sat them on top of a black chrome bottom, what do you think guys. Learning sooooooooooo much about using the Dremel for polishing etc.






Ash


Thanks again Ash, top bloke
The cat however, wasn`t impressed at all

Is that my manky old Vamo body? Wow. That thing has certainly spread the love around ... there's still a top and bottom kicking around somewhere if I can find em.

Nice work!

[robby]

That`s them Ash, what do you think, not a bad look?

[Deleted]

When does the etching commence ?

three colours is another nice touch

[robby]

Next one, might etch a name into the centre part, I have some letraset with a pretty uninspiring font on it but it should do. Gonna practise the process on some old pcb first. I have the chemicals

[robby]

Mar 26, 2013 15:47:37 GMT @ashmal said:

When does the etching commence ?

three colours is another nice touch

I like the three colours as well, not sure what to do with it`s hat though lol

[robby]

I received another set of tubes from Jo today as well (thanks Jo ), maybe try something a bit more advanced with that one.

[robby]

First etch

This was a bit of letraset etched onto the end cap of a chrome vamo. Had to rub the chrome down first so it was copper. Cleaned it thoroughly and then applied the letraset. Put some Ferric Chloride into a large container cap and popped the cap in to it. I was looking to etch away the copper around the clock hands, and yes I know they are crooked lol. There was a bit of the transfer missing. It did work quite well, the copper clock hands are still there, The surrounding brass is a lot rougher than I thought it would be, so may have to have a bit of a rethink, but a promising start. It is possible to keep an eye on how much is getting etched away by looking at it, it took about 30 minutes to etch away the surrounding copper.


It looks a bit rough but there is another possible method and that is to use Sodium persulphate. Not sure whether that will make for a better brass surface after etching. Have to try a bit of it.

[Deleted]

good progress and I like the clock face idea

[robby]

Mar 28, 2013 21:29:51 GMT @ashmal said:

good progress and I like the clock face idea

I am surprised the letraset worked this well for a small design Ash

[Deleted]

how does it look from more of a distance ?

[robby]

Mar 28, 2013 21:44:13 GMT @ashmal said:

how does it look from more of a distance ?

Well you can clearly see the contrast between the two metals. I may try and judge it so that the brass is "just about" breaking through next time. It will give me something to polish down :-) Ash