Clockmakers have traditionally used Wax [sealing wax], but there is a trend towards epoxy resin loaded with black filler [printer toner might do]. Scrupulous cleanliness is obviously essential.

MichaelG.

Douglas, I have made many engraved panels for equipment, my lathes, shaper, rotary table controller, etc,  and lots of radio ham equipment – I use single sided ( copper on one side only)FR4 Printed Circuit Board ( fibreglass type), with the copper side pre-painted and then engraved, as this gives a nice sharp edge to the lines. I then fill with plain black boot/shoe polish! I use an old credit card as a squeegee and squeeze the wax into the lines. Wipe the panel with a clean lint free cloth and let dry for an hour or so and then a brisk rub to clean up and the job is done!

The problem with resin fillers, or any paint with a solvent based filler is that the filler tends to adhere to the painted surface so you have to clean the excess  right away and that is not so easy – if the filled line/text is still wet, wiping over the line tends to drag more of the filler over the panel surface, and as that starts to dry or cure, it becomes more difficult to clean. Also,  the solvent base of non wax style fillers tends to attack and dissolve the painted panel surface as well, leaving fewer choices of paint to use on the panel, ie, epoxy based paints are about the only types impervious to turpentine or thinners based fillers.

I have panels around 11 years old made in this way, and they show no deterioration at all – some are panels on radio equipment in my 4X4, panels which have endured many, many months of hot African sun!

The panels on my lathe ( an Electronic leadscrew system), shaper, etc,  are  similarly made and after maybe 2 years of use, with the usual oily and grubby fingers , there is no sign of filler departing the panel, etc.

Joe

Edited By Joseph Noci 1 on 10/02/2019 19:17:14

Having worked for Xerox for a number of years I would advise anyone to steer clear of printer toner, extremely nasty stuff.

If the material is steel then I have had good results with "Curator Antiquing Fluid" this can be diluted and the parts immersed. Takes about 2 minutes with good results. Whilst intended for Brass it says it will work on steel and it does.

There are solutions available for blackening aluminium, but as yet I have not tried them, it is on my to do list with an up and coming project on the Emco Compact 5.

A couple of examples

Regards

Gray,

Edited By Graham Meek on 10/02/2019 20:22:46

I was experimenting with this today. The graduations on my HLV cross slide are rather faint and I wanted to make them stand out. I rubbed some fine magnetite powder into the surface and it brought the marks up beautifully. Unfortunately I have not managed to find a way of fixing it into the engraved markings.

Having filled many engraved markings the best is to clean in cellulose thinners and then fill with black celluluse paint. wipe off the excess and when hardened use a thinners dampened cloth to clean off the rest of the paint.

Clive

Doug,

If you haven't already done so … I suggest you revisit the other thread

https://www.model-engineer.co.uk/forums/postings.asp?th=140690#2427699

Brian G has made an excellent suggestion

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 11/02/2019 10:11:49

John Wilding used to recommend biddblack cement colouring in epoxy. Cementone is the current incarnation.

regards Martin

I've used Humbrol matt and/or gloss black enamel, the advantage of which is you can brush the paint into the grooves followed by a wipe with a white spirit dampened kitchen towel or cellulose thinners if the paint has dried for any length of time.

I use engraving wax, which is applied cold. It works well for markings made with letter punches as well as engravings.

George

Where I used to work, we made a lot of electronics boxes for the military. So it had to be robust and soldier/sailor/airman proof. There was a lot of engraving, one person used to do the infilling, he used Humbrol enamel, black, white, red whatever. After near obsessive cleaning the engraved characters were infilled with a small brush and the excess wiped off with a Humbrol thinners dampened cloth. Much like what has already been suggested.

cheers

Bill

Edited By Bill Pudney on 12/02/2019 02:20:33