Cheap online brass sheet metal etching service

[kcleung]

I would like to scratch build brass model railway rolling stocks or buildings with brass sheetmetal

Do you know of any online brass sheet metal etching service?

Seeedstudio has very cheap custom PCB service but it doesn't do brass or nickel silver etching service

I just need a place like seeedstudio but also does brass sheetmetal

[cahlfors]

I am in the same situation. It looks like do-it-yourselfers are moving away from photoetching, probably because of disposal and procurement issues with the chemicals. People seem to move toward CNC-milling instead. Even the electronics folks mill their prototype boards these days. There is dedicated software for that, even open source I believe.

Personally, I am hoping to be able to use the sheet metal and path workbenches to mill my parts out of brass sheet, but I do not know if FreeCAD is quite there yet.

If you are using the common model railroad scales, a rather cheap desktop gantry mill should do. If you are into ride-along live steam size scale, the required mill might get expensive, but then etching might not be an option at all. For common HO gauge, the issue might be that it is not possible to reproduce all detail, such as rivets when milling. For N and Z, photoetching is the only option.

Whichever route you choose to go, pls report back how it goes - I bet a lot of people are interested!

Cheers and good luck!
/Chris

[ian.rees]

Even the electronics folks mill their prototype boards these days. There is dedicated software for that, even open source I believe.

At this point, it's hard to justify making one's own PCBs because prototype quantities are so cheap (and higher quality) from commercial outfits. For example, I just ordered a dozen 5x5cm boards a couple days ago; cost would've been ~USD1.50 each shipped to New Zealand if I didn't go with quicker shipping and a solder mask!

Those solder masks might be worth looking in to as a solution to the sheet brass etching problem - they are thin stainless steel sheets cut (I believe with laser cutters) to high accuracy. Are your parts meant to be etched all the way through? If so, I'd think a shop that could make stencils could also make your parts.

There is dedicated software for that, even open source I believe.

Yep, KiCad is really great, in some ways it's even better than the $$$ packages IMHO . -Ian-

[wandererfan]

DIY. Probably not feasible if you're not in USA (HazMat shipping)
http://www.micromark.com/micro-mark-pro ... ,8346.html

A couple in the UK.
http://modelshop.co.uk/Static/Workshop/Photo-Etching
http://www.finescalerr.com/smf/index.php?topic=2102.0