I’ve read that you should heat etched metal to soften it so it can be made to conform to curved surfaces. So, here are some questions from an etched-metal virgin:
Is it better to heat individual pieces or the whole sheet?
What’s the best way to heat the metal? Can I do a whole sheet in the oven in my kitchen and, if so, what temperature?
I just heat individual parts as they come along. I have a little candle with liquid wax running when I am working with PE, and I just hold it over that.
hope it helps! and good luck with your first PE [:D]
I went to Wal-Mart and bought an $8 hot plate, the kind with an electric element. I think it’s 1000w.
What I do is simply cut out and Clean up, (Very important with annealed parts to clean up before annealing as they are VERY soft when done and it’s tough to do any clean up that may be required) and then sit the part directly on the element. Let it heat up in a darkened room so that you can see your metal glow red. After it cools (you can dip in water, this will not temper the brass, it will work-harden) you will have a buttery soft part. I used to use the kitchen stove until we got one of those glass top stoves, doesn’t work as well.
Hope this helps.
What about pre-colored parts? Heat those as well, or will this damage the paint?
Paul
If they are brass, heating followed by quenching will soften, rather than harden, the part. Brass is softened by rapid cooling after heating, and hardened by slow cooling. PE is so thin, it generally cools rapidly.
You don’t need to get to cherry red to anneal brass, but it’s the first visible color you are likely to see. The tip to do it in a darkened room is a very good one!
Whether the color is changed depends on what was used to color the metal surface. Try it with a piece of scrap on an individual basis.
I have never felt the need to anneal any of the PE i have used but I pretty sure that woulkd destroy prepainted details.
A butane lighter (one of those you can pick up at a Casey’s or 7/11 for about 5 bucks) will work very well. Get one of those that the projects the flame to the side. I use a long set of fine pointed long tweezers to hold the part (a set of locking tweezers work the best) while I’m annealing and keep a small cup of water handy to quench the part in.
Another thing I’ve found handy (since the lighter also works great for soldering) is a soldering pad. We had an old toaster that had broken and the wife was going to throw it away - I removed the filament boards and then removed the filaments from the boards which left me with about 1/2 dozen 4 x 6 x 1/8 heat and flame resistant boards so I can solder and braze (w/either a soldering iron/gun or butane torch) without charring or burning my desk top.
If you do try a butane lighter take some time and some scrap pe to experiment with. These things can and will get hot enough to melt the brass. Using some pieces of scrap pe will allow you to figure out just exactly what colors you are looking for to anneal and how long can you heat it until it melts.
One last thing - think safety - you are working with fire and there are a lot of things in your modeling area that burn very well (plus quickly and very, very hot). I knew a modeler several years ago who modeled on his kitchen table. One night he was stretching sprue over a candle and his wife told him he had a phone call. He went to the other room and after a couple of minutes smelled smoke. When he returned to the kitchen, he found the kitchen table totally engulfed in flames. Apparently while he was out of the room, the cat jumped up on the table and knocked over the lit candle which set fire to the table. Only cost him $20,000 in flame, smoke and water damage (which was only for the house damage, not the cost of his models or supplies). All of which would have been avoided if (a) he’d put out the candle when he got up or (B) He’d had a fire extinguisher handy. So get yourself a small fire extinguisher, learn how to use it properly and keep it in your modeling area. It’s cheap insurance.
I’ve heard that heating does’nt work with stainless steel parts. Brass really should’nt need heating as it is easy to bend and shape. Too bad Tamiya and Dragon/Trimaster did’nt use brass.
Heating helps with stainless, but it only helps while the metal is fairly hot. Stainless work-hardens rapidly, so heating part way through a difficult bend may help. For this, you might try a soldering iron with a fine tip applied to the area of the bend. Do not use a flame on stainless, as the metal scorches easily. This also makes it very brittle.
Brass bends easily, initially, but it also work hardens fairly quickly, especially with repetitive bends. Annealing helps this.