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User Guide: How To Make Your Photo Etched
Parts
 To make your
photo etched parts, you need a presensitized
steel plate (photo plate), developing solution (developer), water and etching solution. We
will show you where you can buy the materials at end of the article. We
also highly recommend you to watch the "How to Video" on the right hand side of
this page.
Print your graphic on a transparency film
Before making the stencil, you need to print your graphic on a transparency
film. We found that laser printer produces better result. Alternatively, your
local print shop can also print the transparency film for you.
Expose the top side of the photo plate
Put the photo plate on a hard surface then put the transparency on the plate.
After that, put a piece of glass on top. Expose the plate under a fluorescent
light for 15 minutes.
Expose the bottom side of the photo plate
Remove the transparency and flip the plate over, expose the bottom side of the
plate for 15 minutes.
Remove the protective cover
After you have exposed both sides of the plate, you
must remove the protective cover of the plate. Put a piece of tape on a
corner and slowly peel off
the protective cover. You have to do the same thing on the other side of the
plate.
Develop the photo plate
**You must wear protective glasses and gloves, because the developing
solution are corrosive.
Using a plastic tray. Mix 250ml of water with 25ml of developer. Put
the plate into the tray, use a soft brush to wash away the photo material.
Repeat this action until all un-exposed area are removed.
After developing the plate, wash the plate with clean water.
Now, you should see that your graphic is being developed on the
surface of the plate.
Etch the photo plate
Put the plate a plastic tray with etching
solution, move the tray up and down slowly.
Depends on your graphics, it will take up to 60 minutes to fully etch the plate.
Strip the photo plate
**You must wear protective glasses and gloves, because the developing
solution are corrosive.
The final step is to remove all remaining photo material from the plate.
Mix 250ml of warm water with 100ml of developer in a plastic tray. Use a
soft brush to wash away all photo materials on the plate.
Use clean water to wash the plate and dry the plate using a blow dryer. Now, your stencil is ready to use.
Conclusion
In this article, we go through the detail steps to make your own stencil. We hope you found this
article useful. If you have any comments or feedback, please feel free to contact us at
customerservice@renaelectronics.com
Materials List
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