chaz Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 I need some brass parts. I could (laboriously) cut them by hand but I wonder whether a one-off etch is feasible. I am not intending to do the etching myself - if possible I want to do the artwork myself and then send it to be etched. Has any forum member done this? I would be very grateful for some pointers as to how to go about it. Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon A Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 I have had a one off set of etchings done for me by , I think, PD etching in Scotland. They were very helpful. However I have been told that there prices have shot up, and one of there chaps has left. I was very satisfaied with their service. There are other etches such as Chempix, and Grainge & Hodder. There are probably other around. I suggest you look at their websites which will explain what format they prefer to receive drawings, and what colurs to use. There are usually two costs involved, the making of the photo tool and the metal itself including the etching process. When you have sorted what you want to do, size and number I would suggest a few telephone calls to the various etchers. The current word on the street is that Chempix are not interested in one offs or minimal numbers. It may be worth offering some of your etches to off set the cost of having them made? Gordon A Bristol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyHG Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 I have used PPD ltd, they will do small one offs and the results are excellent and practically next day in my experience. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted December 3, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 3, 2012 I find that one-off etches are well worth doing, especially in 7mm scale. I have to do a drawing of a loco in any case before I build a model, converting this to an etch drawing takes a lot less time than sawing out 7mm loco frames (from .025" shim steel) and etching motion saves even more time. I now try to etch anything awkward or tedious to saw out and fill up the space with anything else i can think of. I have sent work to PPD in the past, they will do any size of sheet which is an advantage for one-off work. More usually I wait until I can fill an 18" x 12" sheet and send it to PhotoEtch. The comment about selling the spare etches is accurate, I started doing this with some spare 4mm ones a couple of years ago and demand has been so great we've had to put some of them on to production etches. Screenshot below shows an 18"x12" sheet, this was done initially for a W 2-6-4T (top part of sheet) rest was filled in with Fowler 2-6-4T. More parts for the latter, which is on the bench at the moment, went on to a couple of 7mm test etches. The colours (grey for etch both sides, red for front, blue for back etc.) are only for visibilty on screen, when the drawing goes out it is changed to just black/white. I send two drawings to plot on film, one for front, other for back, with everything to be etched away in black. Michael Edge Judith Edge kits Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted December 3, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 3, 2012 Good answers above. Rather like in the print industry it may, surprisingly, be cheaper not to go direct but to approach someone who already does bulk business with the likes of Chempix. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 this is quite interesting. could someone throw out a very very rough price for how much one etched sheet might be to produce. I'm talking about one custom-made sheet as the OP is suggesting, not a mass-produced thing by one of the kit suppliers. just something to hang my hat on as I have no idea how much it would be. 2 quid? 20 quid? 200 quid? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
John M Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 this is quite interesting. could someone throw out a very very rough price for how much one etched sheet might be to produce. I'm talking about one custom-made sheet as the OP is suggesting, not a mass-produced thing by one of the kit suppliers. just something to hang my hat on as I have no idea how much it would be. 2 quid? 20 quid? 200 quid? The cost is based on sheet size PPD typically charge around £40 excluding VAT for an A4 sheet .012 Brass or n/s. The drawing technique takes a bit of getting used to the Hollywood Foundry tutorials are a good starting point for understanding the limitations of the proceess and preparing drawings http://www.hollywoodfoundry.com/HowToPapers.shtm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted December 3, 2012 Author Share Posted December 3, 2012 I'm overwhelmed by that, very rapid, response - Thank you Guys! I need to follow up on some of the suggestions and give some thought as to which way to go. On a related topic, can anyone suggest a good drawing package on which to do the artwork? I am not averse to paying money for good software but do need to avoid the stratospheric prices that professional CAD programs command. Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
fender Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 The cost is based on sheet size PPD typically charge around £40 excluding VAT for an A4 sheet .012 Brass or n/s. The drawing technique takes a bit of getting used to the Hollywood Foundry tutorials are a good starting point for understanding the limitations of the proceess and preparing drawings http://www.hollywood...owToPapers.shtm. thanks. ------------ this is great. almost every day I discover another avenue to explore with this hobby. glad you started this Chaz. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyHG Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 It may be worth offering some of your etches to off set the cost of having them made? Gordon A Bristol Hadnt considered doing this. I used the standard MS Visio to produce the drawing, and part of the result is shown below. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tranby Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 This site - modelshop.co.uk 4d modelshop , gives details of their services for brass photo etching,prices, and drawing requirements in their etch services. Their laser cutting of plastic looks of interest.I have not dealt with them,so i cannot give any more detail. With professional specialist experience of fine art traditional etching and processing images images via film to photo litho plates and screen, I have investigated a home set up for photo etching bits and pieces. Ready photo coated on both sides brass can be obtained at reasonable cost ,as can be the films, but the uv vacuum exposure unit and laser printer necessary for making the films,at the minimum would set one back several hundred pounds. ( A pity- I had daily use of these items until three years ago (I believe the u v unit got ditched after I retired, as no one knew how to use it. ).The chemicals were much the same as used in PC circuit making etching ,but needed handling with care, i.e. ferric chloride for etch and a sodium meta bisilicate derivative for developer. PPE necessary ! Unless you are doing lots its not viable to set up photo etching at home. I have tried LaserTran film ,as used in making photo printed circuits, which needs only a laser printer,( avoids the need for u v exposure units) but found it more difficult to use than I had hoped. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted December 3, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 3, 2012 I'm overwhelmed by that, very rapid, response - Thank you Guys! I need to follow up on some of the suggestions and give some thought as to which way to go. On a related topic, can anyone suggest a good drawing package on which to do the artwork? I am not averse to paying money for good software but do need to avoid the stratospheric prices that professional CAD programs command. Chaz Turbocad is very cheap (about £40 or so) and very good, as you can see from my screenshot I still use v4, I also use v15 but they are up to 19 now. current prices from PhotoEtch for 18"x12" sheets (I use .022" for 7mm) are £30.72 for n/s and £24.24 for brass. I send them two films as described above, these are plotted for us by Phillips Digital (www.phillipsdigital.co.uk) from files which I send as .eps. Current cost for these is £52, a little dearer than some but their service is second to none, films always arrive next day. Michael Edge Judith Edge kits Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 .....Screenshot below shows an 18"x12" sheet, this was done initially for a W 2-6-4T (top part of sheet) .... After seeing that, I'm praying that you might consider an etch for the new-build "U"-class 2-6-0...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidK71 Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 On a related topic, can anyone suggest a good drawing package on which to do the artwork? I am not averse to paying money for good software but do need to avoid the stratospheric prices that professional CAD programs command. I've used Inkscape (which is free software) to draw etches, saved the result to PDF and got PPD to etch that for me. Excellent service from PPD, too. It's worth reading their notes on how to prepare artwork: http://www.ppdltd.co...Guidelines.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
garethashenden Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 4D Modelshop in London does etching as well. They have extensive price information on their website. http://www.modelshop.co.uk/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaz Posted December 3, 2012 Author Share Posted December 3, 2012 Lots more useful information - thanks to you all for that, much appreciated. I will follow up the suggestions, links, recommendations etc. Chaz Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted December 3, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 3, 2012 After seeing that, I'm praying that you might consider an etch for the new-build "U"-class 2-6-0...... I did think that a U would be handy on our club O gauge layout (Regis Bay), maybe after I have finished 11001. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 I did think that a U would be handy on our club O gauge layout (Regis Bay), maybe after I have finished 11001. ....in 4mm as well? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Re6/6 Posted December 4, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 4, 2012 I have some photocopied A2 drawings of the items that I require to be etched, but lacking the skills in the use of CAD to create my own, would it be possible to have work done using this type of drawing (with the usual photocopying grey light shading) if they were transferred to a memory stick by my local copyshop and presented to the etchers? Advice please. Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted December 4, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted December 4, 2012 ....in 4mm as well? The scale is irrelevant to most of the work, I routinely scale etches between 3mm, 4mm and 7mm (with 2mm, 1:87, and 9mm occasionally), only minor alterations are needed, mostly connected with axle diameter and sheet thickness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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