[Photoetching] Printing a Resist

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi everyone-

I’m having a heck of a time with the resist supplied with the Rio
Grande Etch Press System (a fancy name for a Print Gocco B6 Hi Mesh
kit with an added can of asphaltum varnish and a plastic squeegee.)
The issue is that the varnish they supplied is so runny that I get a
ton of bleed out around the open areas of the master (screen).

I tried evaporating some of the solvent (paint thinner?) out of the
varnish to thicken it up. That helped a little, but it was so thick
that the screen really stuck to the metal. I plan to try again with
even thicker varnish, but I was wondering if anyone else had already
solved this problem. Alternate resist suggestions anyone? I’m printing
on copper and will etch with ferric chloride.

Note that this is not a problem limited to the Gocco. I am having the
same problem with a PhotoEZ HiRes stencil as well. Maybe I just got a
bum can of resist?

Thanks,
Tom Colson

Tom Colson
tom@tiles.org
Tiles on the Web: http://www.tiles.org

2

Hi Thomas,

It’s been awhile since I used my etch press, but I do remember having
the same problem with the blue stuff that came with the kit. I ended
up using regular old asphaltum varnish, it worked fine with the system.

3

I have the Print Gocco system and have used the blue resist. It
worked fine, not as good an over all coverage on the resist areas as
PNP Blue, but I liked the pebbly background texture. I had to
experiment with it a bit to get the consistancy just right…if it is
too liquid, I leave it open for a bit and go with the top layer from
the jar. I had more problems getting asphaultum to work with the system…Donna in WY