Ar15 Lower: Jumping In

[brav65]

Hi guys, I have three 80% lowers I am waiting to have the time to work on. This weekend I did some research and found some plans for an etching machine here:

http://chriscrawfordknives.com/tutorials/electro-etcher/page-1/

I spent about $40 to pick up,all the parts on eBay, along with bits and pieces I have already.

Here is a guy who made some changes to the design

http://keithwiley.com/electro-etcher-plater-marker.shtml

I will let everyone know how the build goes once I get all the pieces.

 

[dave2176]

Is there a commercial vinyl cutter that can down to a 12 point font or maybe smaller? I have a verse I would like to put on the passenger side of the mag well. May have to be engraved if I can't find someone to cut a pattern in vinyl with small enough letters.

 

[n3480h]

Is there a commercial vinyl cutter that can down to a 12 point font or maybe smaller? I have a verse I would like to put on the passenger side of the mag well. May have to be engraved if I can't find someone to cut a pattern in vinyl with small enough letters.

Dave, this is 12 point. It was cut on a basic hobbyist vinyl cutter, so I would think a commercial unit may be able to cut finer. The difficulty may be in "picking" very small detail, such as the center of an A or a B for example. Then, it may be difficult to get such small areas to stick well on the receiver. I had fine detail areas which I had to touch up with a very fine brush and paint to prevent the etchant from filling in the detail. It was not easy to paint in the center of some of these areas, but it can be done. I would strongly suggest a sans serif type face, such as Helvetica or Arial, all caps, and maybe boldface, LIKE THIS. Color was added with a lacquer stick, which I found at amazon. Lacquer stick is rubbed over the etched area, then the excess is removed with lacquer thinner or acetone. I do not recommend lacquer stick on broader areas because it's very difficult to remove the excess, but it works well for small type and lines.

Tom

 

[Rick Leslie]

Hi guys, I have three 80% lowers I am waiting to have the time to work on. This weekend I did some research and found some plans for an etching machine here:

http://chriscrawfordknives.com/tutorials/electro-etcher/page-1/

I spent about $40 to pick up,all the parts on eBay, along with bits and pieces I have already.

Here is a guy who made some changes to the design

http://keithwiley.com/electro-etcher-plater-marker.shtml

I will let everyone know how the build goes once I get all the pieces.

I did mine for free. I'm getting ready to etch my can, as soon as I can figure out where to get 1/8 to 3/16 stencils.
http://www.weaponsguild.com/forum/index.php?topic=32064.msg437017#msg437017