discussion Annealing Delicate Photoetch

[slupanter]

Hi guy, I normally annealing with a heat touch but delicate or fine PE just deforms; is there are better way to anneal PE?

 

[Allen Dewire]

Hi Alexander,

I guess the question would be is the PE too thick to bend and hold it's shape? Usually smaller, delicate pieces will bend without annealing. If you have to anneal them, maybe try using a tealight candle to heat it up with less temp than a torch. HTHs...

Prost
Allen

 

[rtfoe]

Basically PE parts don't need annealing as they come with scored lines or are perforated along the areas that need bending. They're also so thin that they bend easily and need careful handling.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[Tim Marlow]

Agree with Richard. I’ve never annealed brass etch, not even the 20thou thick stuff used in some railway kits. In fact, annealing brass can cause more problems than it solves, making the part far too soft to hold the shape you give it. Some cheapskate etchers (Falcon brass railway kits I’m looking at you) use brass of such poor quality you can pretty much impress fingerprints in it if you anneal before handling. Military stuff seems to be mostly made of half hard brass sheet so should handle easily without annealing. If the part doesn’t have a half etched line and it needs a sharp bend then you can file a groove in the back with a triangular file.

 

[Guest]

If you need to make the brass parts into a round shape, I find annealing often helps, and then I just use a cigarette lighter. Other than that, I don’t bother with it.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Rolling over the part with a hard bar on a softer surface like a mouse or cutting mat will make them curl into a round shape without the gift of fire Jakko. Try it on some scrap…..and for small round shapes use round nosed pliers, they even hold the part at the same time.

 

[stillp]

Don't try to heat delicate PE directly as the heating effect will be uneven, leading to distortion. Instead, lay the PE on a piece of brass (or steel, or copper) sheet and heat that so that the heat transfers to the PE.
Pete

 

[Guest]

Rolling over the part with a hard bar on a softer surface like a mouse or cutting mat will make them curl into a round shape without the gift of fire

I’ve never quite mastered that. Getting parts to curve slightly, I can do, but rolling until a part is fully round is a trick I don’t know how to do.

About two years ago, when building my stripped Sd.Kfz. 7, I had to put a bit of anti-slip etch around the pipe-like thing in the middle of the drive sprockets:

(Hard to see here, I admit, because I primed them in a grey similar to the colour of the plastic.) The first one I tried without annealing, and it was very hard to get it to fit well. The second one I annealed over the cigarette lighter, and it went on without a hitch.

With which I want to say: it may not be absolutely necessary to anneal parts at all, but if your metalworking skills aren’t great, it will help for certain things — but I definitely don’t see a need to anneal everything all the time.

 

[Guest]

Did someone mention fire ?

 

[rtfoe]

Did someone mention fire ?

Struth!!! Send out the fire brigade!!

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[Guest]

Did someone mention fire ?

999 on the way with your oxygen....

 

[Guest]

Annealing, is not required on most brass etch despite what most pundits sell on YT. As said above the scored lines are there to aid in the bending of parts. I only run a lighter over parts that require rolling, but it is a once over just to break the surface tension, then onto a block of vulcanised rubber and a drill shank to form the 'tube' shape.
A bending tool or a metal plate combined with an old 'Stanley' or a half blade with a ruler will suffice for most bending requirements without the need to go spending £££$$$$ on expensive bending tools that become ornaments on your bench. If the items are so small that you cannot handle them with your fingers then I find that two pairs of the toothed tweezers that have been shaped to a point with a sanding disc can do the job and make it easier to handle and position. Holding a part in place can be done with the back of a scalpel or x-acto knife blade untill the c/a starts to grip.
Mike.