More Acid testing.
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Ran a few more tests. Transfer tests, painting test, sanding tests and rolling tests. Good results.
First two I will call patina Id plates. The transfers were not the best and the etching not deep enough but once painted they kind of pull of a decent new-used look for the guy who does not have a restored lathe but is missing or cannot recover his old plate. The one on the left is also rolled. Contour matched pretty darn good.
As a side note, the original ID plates are bent, not rolled. The curve is made thru 16 or 17 bends in the sheet metal about .2" apart. You can see it from the back side. (Bet you did not realize that) I just used a sheet metal roller. :thumbzup:
How about Brass?? Looks good. I was going to two tone paint it but the etch depth is much too shallow. This had 20 minutes in the 2:1 solution. Would have needed another 40 minutes to get something usable. Looks classy though. The older QCGB's have a brass ID plate I think.
The good stuff is above. Not finished but....
So I got tired of bad transfers, shallow etching and the mask starting to come off after 20 minutes in the bath. What to do. Research and experiment of course.
After reading up on transfer issues I realized that this stuff is meant for copper and most of the suggestions were polar opposite to each other. High heat vs. lower heat. Longer press time vs. shorter press time. yada, yada, yada..... I finally figured I was on my own but I had a few things to try.
What you see above was made by ironing the transfer on high "cotton" heat for 5 minutes with a T-shirt between the transfer and the iron. After 5 minutes I removed the T-shirt and went over the transfer with the tip of the iron and high pressure to get some good heat and direct pressure. I then replaced the T-shirt and ironed another 5 minutes. This was all done with a timer. When done I stuck it in the fridge for 30+ minutes.
I then carefully removed the tape holding down the transfer and carefully lifted the edges with my x-acto knife. It came off really clean and I immediately noticed that the color of the transfer was way different. A very dark royal blue instead of sky blue. Hmmmm..... :makingdecision:
Into the Acid bath. I increased the Muriatic acid to 1:1. Be careful..... The plate started bubbling right away this time. Could tell things were different. I also immediately got some brown residue floating in the acid. Still do not know what that was and it had me concerned. I let it etch for 30 minutes checking every 5 and what a difference. The etching is about .6mm deep and very well defined.
You can see I have it painted and will sand it off tomorrow. I have high hopes.....
I also wonder if I can repeat it. Stay tuned. I also think I am going to have to make a new thread showing how this is done once I gain confidence.....
Anyone need a new, used looking ID plate?