Etching rectifier

Jewelry Discussion
1

can you etch with a battery charger without problems. or should i
purchase one from a local dealer for etching. I want to do alot of
electro etching so I need something dependable that maybe I can build
or get done cheaper than buying an exensive rectifier please help.

2

Curent is the key to etching rather than voltage. A power supply that
delivers 6-20 v at 3-0.5 Amps is ideal, a model railway power
controller is probably the cheapest way of fitting the bill.

Nick

3 
can you etch with a battery charger without problems

I have a laboratory power supply, useful for plating, but for
etching have never had to use anything other than an old 12v battery
charger with a current limiter (in the form of some 12v bulbs acting
as a series variable resistance).

Paul Jelley
London

4

My train transformer did not work for etching unless I pressed the
horn button, then etching was slow etching with ospho as the mordant
etching brass.Wonder what Im doing wrong. My etch was faster using
radio shack ferric chloride by itself.I thought electric would speed
things up.I want to etch brass first then silver.I know that ferric
nitrate is used for silver and ferric Cloride is used for brass but
can you add electric to them and get a faster etch without under
cutting?

thank you Shawn

5 
My train transformer did not work for etching unless I pressed the
horn button, then etching was slow etching with ospho as the
mordant etching brass.Wonder what Im doing wrong.

check to see if the train transformer is producing Direct current,
which you want for etching, plating, or the like, or whether it’s
producing Alternating current. Some sets I’ve seen have the
transformer only reducing the line voltage, so it sends variable low
voltage AC into the train tracks, not DC. AC would slow down the
etching, not assist it, since for half of each cycle, it would be
sending reverse current into the circuit. The train set I’m thinking
of did it this way so that trains could be placed on the track in
either direction, and still get correct power. The motor itself ran
on DC, but the rectifier circuit was on the train engine, not in the
power transformer. I have no idea whether all train transformers do
it this way, or only that one example I saw. That one may have been
an oddball variety…

Peter