Home Bulit Etcher questions

[drman63]

ok here it is

Main difference in Crawford and Logiudice to get 24v to 12v is
#1 leave out step B and connect the green wire from power cord to the ground on the transformer
#2, 3 are ok
#4 Change the number on the transformer to 5 instead of 4
#5 Change the number on the transformer to 4 instead of 5
#6, 7, 8, 9 Ok
#10 Change (C) to use the center black #2 wire on the transformer (not the yellow)
#11 Change (C) to use the wire # 1 on transformer (different numbering system) (yellow wire)

Mlogdice 4 5 vs. (Crawford) 5 4 transformer
output# 1 2 3 output num# 3 2 1

[SpyMaster]

Hi Guys
Sorry for hijack this thread but couldn`t find no where else to get information about my question.

I just finished building the Chris Crawford tutorial Etcher. I have not tested it yet and want to ask a simple question just for curiosity and peace of mind. Do both banana jacks red and black suppose to be positive when you flip the switch either on A/C or D/C current?

[cappaletti]

wow...what a wealth of information u guys are ! THANKS !!!

[ARCustomKnives]

Originally Posted by SpyMaster

Hi Guys
Sorry for hijack this thread but couldn`t find no where else to get information about my question.

I just finished building the Chris Crawford tutorial Etcher. I have not tested it yet and want to ask a simple question just for curiosity and peace of mind. Do both banana jacks red and black suppose to be positive when you flip the switch either on A/C or D/C current?

Assuming your meter is hooked up correctly (black lead to common, red lead to "V"), then you should be getting a positive voltage from red on red, black on black.
If you swap the black lead on your meter to the red banana jack, and then the red lead to the black jack, then you should be reading a negative voltage. This applies to AC and DC both.

Hopefully that makes sense.

For what it's worth, I built an electric etcher based primarily off of Chris Crawford's tutorial, and didn't seem to have any trouble at all. I did up tapping the center of the transformer with a DPDT switch so that I can select either 12 OR 24 volts whether im in DC or AC.

One thing to keep in mind: The etch pad should be running from the negative jack, NOT the positive.

Also, I find myself tending to use the 24V rather than the 12V for etching AND marking. Whether you burn your stencils will depend on the quality of the stencil as well as how long your are holding the etch pad to the steel.

Here's a quick overview of the etcher I built:

[Geno]

AC pulses the plus and negative 60 times each second, it is both as it "alternates".
DC flows one way only.
Geno

[SpyMaster]

My question to make it simple for me to understand is that if I use a 12v car tester one that has a alligator clip at one end and a pointed needle at another with a light and place it on either black or red banana jack and ground the other end with the alligator clip will I get positive reading on both or should I have current flow only on the red lead.

The reason for my question is that when I do exactly that I get positive reading on both jacks
what I mean is it light up both ways. Is this normal?

[ARCustomKnives]

Those auto testers don't detect positive or negative, they simply detect voltage.
What you need is a multimeter that will show if it's positive OR negative.

[Thingmaker]

Originally Posted by SpyMaster

My question to make it simple for me to understand is that if I use a 12v car tester one that has a alligator clip at one end and a pointed needle at another with a light and place it on either black or red banana jack and ground the other end with the alligator clip will I get positive reading on both or should I have current flow only on the red lead.

The reason for my question is that when I do exactly that I get positive reading on both jacks
what I mean is it light up both ways. Is this normal?

The low voltage portion of this thing is floating, not grounded. Readings to ground will be of little value.
Put the alligator clip on black and pointy part to red & you should get positive reading. Put the alligator clip on red and pointy part on black and you should get negative reading.

[Franky67]

Can someone help me? I built a crawford etcher following these exact instructions here http://chriscrawfordknives.com/#/ele...nit/4535265119


WORKS GOOD NO issues But I would like to add the 12 volt 24 volt stitch...(just because I got one and may find it useful somehow once I get going with this etching). Could someone explain exactly how exactly to do that from where I'm at. Many Thanks!

[logem]

Originally Posted by Franky67

Can someone help me? I built a crawford etcher following these exact instructions here http://chriscrawfordknives.com/#/ele...nit/4535265119


WORKS GOOD NO issues But I would like to add the 12 volt 24 volt stitch...(just because I got one and may find it useful somehow once I get going with this etching). Could someone explain exactly how exactly to do that from where I'm at. Many Thanks!

Your 24V transformer must have three wires on the output side in order to step it down to 12 volts. Using a multimeter, measured voltage between the DC ground wire and one of the three wires will be 12 volts . . . measured voltage between the ground wire and the other of the 3 wires will be 24 volts.

Simply tape off the wire that provides 24 volts, and use the wire that provides 12 volts. Connect it as the Crawford instructions indicate.

By the way. The LoGiudice instructions are mine. I'm glad that I could be of help to some of you.

Mike LoGiudice
LoGiudice Custom Knives