My first round...

[m-Kresol]

wow, great work all around. Impressive etching skills too. My first attempts were not nearly that good.

[stringsthings]

Very nice pedals!  I think your etches are top-notch.  It's not an easy process
and I'm always excited when I get one to turn out well.  You've got some "advanced" builds in
there which is impressive.

My favourite artwork is on the Rat build.  That's very cool seeing him hold the chip!

[trotel]

Wow- thanks so much for all the great feedback, it means a lot!  The funny thing is, my work is a direct product of what I learned from all of you here.  I've combed this forum for the answers to so many questions (and a bit elsewhere) and built upon your inspiration, great works and lessons learned. 

Of course, even after getting all the tips on the right printer, paper, iron temp and etch techniques, there were many failures and redos (including full belt sanded scrubs back to step 1).  Just as hard was keeping the motivation to follow through to build enclosures and box up all my built up boards as my mind shifts focus across the various disciplines of this hobby.

But with *time* and effort and most of all patience I could do what I set out to. 

Here was my build area in February after ordering my first madbean boards:  (firing up my naughty fish and green bean boards)


And now, after too much soldering in the house I've been kicked out of the back bedroom and into my outside studio.  I built a workbench and kitted it out, which isn't a bad place to work after all


Happy building and glad I can pass some inspiration forward!

[pickdropper]

Those are some great builds.  Very nice etches.

I like that work space.  You have a some nice gear there and it looks like a good place to work.

[Leevibe]

I wish I had an outside studio to get kicked out to!

[diablochris6]

These are some great builds! The proficiency of your first builds makes me want to throw my first pedals in the trash.

[selfdestroyer]

Great reveres etches! Love the attention to detail.

Cody

[matmosphere]

First off, your work is great looking for someone just getting into this.

Looks like you have some cool gear in your studio to plug into those pedals. 

I used to have that exact same blue danelectro U2. I remember buying it when those reissues first came out back in the nineties. They're great guitars.

[Aleph Null]

I hope to someday be as weak on my graphic design skills as you are...

[trotel]

Thanks for all the great feedback guys!  Really appreciate the encouragement.

@matmosphere:  Glad you noticed the U2!  It was my first guitar in the mid nineties.  I hadn't played it in a long time; I guess I got biased over other  "better quality" guitars.  But, it just plays and sounds great!  The tuning machines are getting worn out though...I need to look for some replacements.

Here's one more project I finished this week, a rabbit hole pcb populated as a violet ram's head.

[soldersqueeze]

Good grief....
Totally beautiful builds, congrats. As with the rest of the class, i can't fathom this being your starting point- looking forward to where you go from here!!

[trotel]

To Cody's point about attention to detail, I'd say that's something I keep in mind all through the process.  It bugs me when things are off and I'd prefer to get it right, even if it means stepping back a bit in the process.   Worst case, the enclosure gets the belt sander, no regrets!  In my experience so far in this hobby, it's hard to cover mistakes later.   I learned a lot from reading your prior posts here, meticulous sanding of enclosures grit by grit, and also a lot of patience, focus and progress checking during the etch.  As well, I'd say its pretty common that I end up redoing the application of the etch mask step a couple of times to get it just right. 

I also picked up a couple of key etching tips along the way I wanted to (re)share.  First, for standard etches, cover all area you don't want etched with enamel (fingernail polish).  This really helps to prevent pitting due to wearing through the etch mask. 



Second, for reverse etches, after etching and painting, I use an exacto knife to carefully scrape the paint off of the embossed areas to expose the aluminum.  I found that sanding, even with a block was not accurate enough and tended to dull the areas around the embossed areas.  The scraping technique takes practice but it's very effective.