Metropoulos Forum

Posted: **Wed Apr 20, 2005 9:01 pm**

A few of my DIY pedals. I even etch my own PCB boards.

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2005 12:18 am**

Those look very sweet!!!!

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:20 am**

Hat's off to you. You are a pedal guru!

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2005 1:00 pm**

very nice!! I'm building a bunch of pedals myself. How did you etch the board?

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2005 2:59 pm**

gnugear wrote:very nice!! I'm building a bunch of pedals myself. How did you etch the board?

1.You can buy 1 sided copper clad board, cleaned with fine steel wool and detergent.

2. Next you need toner transfer paper(available at mouser) or press n' peel blue(available at smallbearelec.com).

3. Use a "laser jet" inkjet will not work, to print the reversed image onto the toner tranfer paper.

4. Use a household iron set at "polyester" and iron the image onto the cleaned copper board. This usually takes some practice to perfect it but it takes several minutes. Drop the board and paper into water and a the paper with seperate from the board leaving the toner images on the copper clad. You may need to use a permanent marker to touch up the image.

5. Drop the imaged boards into a shallow plastic dish and Use Feric acid or equivelent (from MG Chemicals) to etch away the unprotected copper.

I beleive there is still a tutorial at www.tonepad.com somewhere.

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2005 8:51 pm**

Wow, it sounds dangerous ... I like it.

Now I can add acid to my list of things to freak my wife out.

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2005 10:00 pm**

gnugear wrote:Wow, it sounds dangerous ... I like it.

Now I can add acid to my list of things to freak my wife out.

The wierd thing is it eats through copper, but it doesn't burn your skin

Posted: **Thu Apr 21, 2005 11:48 pm**

that stuff is very hazardous and should be dealt with accordingly. Even giving the hint that you can let it get on your skin is irresponsible at best.

III. Etching the Board

The copper not masked by the transferred image will be removed by etching in a heated Ferric Chloride (FeCl3)
solution. Before using the Ferric Chloride solution it is important to fully understand the associated health hazards
and safety precautions.

Potential Health Hazards
- Inhalation of concentrated vapors or mist may cause irritation of the respiratory tract.
- Ingestion may cause severe liver and/or kidney damage, and may be fatal.
- Contact with liquid, mist, or vapor can cause immediate irritation or corrosive burns to
all human tissue. Severity is generally determined by the concentration of the solution
and duration of exposure.
- Contact with eyes may cause irritation, tearing and eye tissue discoloration, and may
result in permanent visual loss unless removed quickly by thorough irrigation with water.

Safety Precautions
- Handle under a fume hood whenever possible.
- Work with the fume hood splash guard as low as possible. This improves the effectiveness
of the fume hood ventilation as well as providing protection from splashed solution.
- Wear rubber gloves and eye protection whenever handling solution.
- Ferric Chloride will stain anything that it contacts. You may want to wear an apron or lab
coat to protect clothing.

http://mitghmr.spd.louisville.edu/lutz/ ... cbsop.html

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2005 12:16 am**

Nice work on the pedals. I've done a couple simple circuits with a sharpie, but unfortunately I don't have a laser jet printer to do more complex ones. Could you use a copying machine, I wonder?

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2005 7:58 am**

Zoso wrote:Nice work on the pedals. I've done a couple simple circuits with a sharpie, but unfortunately I don't have a laser jet printer to do more complex ones. Could you use a copying machine, I wonder?

Yes, a cfopy machine will work.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2005 7:58 am**

Zoso wrote:Nice work on the pedals. I've done a couple simple circuits with a sharpie, but unfortunately I don't have a laser jet printer to do more complex ones. Could you use a copying machine, I wonder?

Yes, a cfopy machine will work.

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:01 pm**

Dai H. wrote:that stuff is very hazardous and should be dealt with accordingly. Even giving the hint that you can let it get on your skin is irresponsible at best.

III. Etching the Board

The copper not masked by the transferred image will be removed by etching in a heated Ferric Chloride (FeCl3)
solution. Before using the Ferric Chloride solution it is important to fully understand the associated health hazards
and safety precautions.

Potential Health Hazards
- Inhalation of concentrated vapors or mist may cause irritation of the respiratory tract.
- Ingestion may cause severe liver and/or kidney damage, and may be fatal.
- Contact with liquid, mist, or vapor can cause immediate irritation or corrosive burns to
all human tissue. Severity is generally determined by the concentration of the solution
and duration of exposure.
- Contact with eyes may cause irritation, tearing and eye tissue discoloration, and may
result in permanent visual loss unless removed quickly by thorough irrigation with water.

Safety Precautions
- Handle under a fume hood whenever possible.
- Work with the fume hood splash guard as low as possible. This improves the effectiveness
of the fume hood ventilation as well as providing protection from splashed solution.
- Wear rubber gloves and eye protection whenever handling solution.
- Ferric Chloride will stain anything that it contacts. You may want to wear an apron or lab
coat to protect clothing.
http://mitghmr.spd.louisville.edu/lutz/ ... cbsop.html

Absolutely correct! If any of you out there have ever worked in a plating shop, you'll understand the term 'chrome sore'. You absolutely do not want to handle this stuff without gloves. Especially if you have any wounds (scrapes, etc) on your hands. That stuff has the tendancy to work it's way inside (if you get my meaning), and then it slowly (underneath the scab ...) starts eating away at your skin.

Breathing it can be a health hazard too (nose bleeds anyone?).

DonM

Posted: **Fri Apr 22, 2005 1:02 pm**

By the way, great looking pedals

I wish mine came out looking that nice ... guess I need to actually spend some money on the enclosures

DonM

Posted: **Thu Apr 28, 2005 7:38 pm**

Nice job scottosan.

How do you make those labels?

Posted: **Mon May 09, 2005 12:12 pm**

Scott how/where did you get your logos? Stickers with sprayed clear coat?