I used to etch and engrave brass (same method as used for printed circuit boards) using the toner transfer method. Now that I can cut vinyl, for most designs I can just use cheap vinyl instead of dealing with the transfer. Also, I was never able to get the toner transfer method down pat without making it horribly expensive. With the proper laser printer, toner transfer sheets, and hacked overpowered fire-hazard laminator, I'm at the point where I should just get emulsion/sensitized rolls and a real laminator and then UV expose the brass.
I really only have one design (in two parts) that's too detailed for vinyl, down to 0.5-1mm ovals. I had taken it into a few screen printers in my area about eight years ago, but all of them wanted a minimum order of at least 100 (plus none of them could guarantee it would even work), where at the time I was only doing 20 a year at the most, so paying the setup fees, the minimum order fee, plus having to buy 200 sheets of brass killed that idea so I kept going with the toner transfers. I may start doing more engraving now, and I'm curious as to whether or not I could pay someone here to make a screen for me (along with use and care instructions) that I can use on my own when I need to make one.
The design is 3.5" x 9.75" that would be put onto 4" x 10" 0.010 K&S hobby brass. I wouldn't need any kind of precise registration, as long as the whole image is on the brass the alignment doesn't matter. I would prepare the brass by lightly scouring with 2000g wet/dry sandpaper, then cleaning with acetone, then distilled water. After printing, it would be etched in an acidic cupric chloride etch bath, then cleaned with acetone again to remove the inks.
Are there any inks out there that would be able to print on brass without beading up? Would they be usable at home without having to need a fume hood or UV cure booth? If I had the screen in a frame without a full press, could I just put the brass on a thin piece of wood thick enough to create the tension, and then clamp the screen over it to squeegee the ink on?
I really only have one design (in two parts) that's too detailed for vinyl, down to 0.5-1mm ovals. I had taken it into a few screen printers in my area about eight years ago, but all of them wanted a minimum order of at least 100 (plus none of them could guarantee it would even work), where at the time I was only doing 20 a year at the most, so paying the setup fees, the minimum order fee, plus having to buy 200 sheets of brass killed that idea so I kept going with the toner transfers. I may start doing more engraving now, and I'm curious as to whether or not I could pay someone here to make a screen for me (along with use and care instructions) that I can use on my own when I need to make one.
The design is 3.5" x 9.75" that would be put onto 4" x 10" 0.010 K&S hobby brass. I wouldn't need any kind of precise registration, as long as the whole image is on the brass the alignment doesn't matter. I would prepare the brass by lightly scouring with 2000g wet/dry sandpaper, then cleaning with acetone, then distilled water. After printing, it would be etched in an acidic cupric chloride etch bath, then cleaned with acetone again to remove the inks.
Are there any inks out there that would be able to print on brass without beading up? Would they be usable at home without having to need a fume hood or UV cure booth? If I had the screen in a frame without a full press, could I just put the brass on a thin piece of wood thick enough to create the tension, and then clamp the screen over it to squeegee the ink on?