Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube

[TheDarkPope]

This should really be titled a disaster in progress, but anyway, here we go.

I was looking to see if anyone has made an etched brass Rubik's Cube with no success. Everyone uses stickers. I hate stickers.

I did some measuring, and figured out (incorrectly, but close) the useable dimensions of each piece of the cube. I redid the artwork and made a stencil.

Then I applied the resist and exposed it.

After etching, I came up with a panel set (piece missing to show size compared to a quarter).

You might be able to tell that some pieces didn't etch all the way through. That was because of a stencil issue - they weren't lined up properly. I also didn't measure the gap properly, so the pieces don't fit on correctly. I'll need to redo the art, and stencils for all pieces, and do another run. Even though it didn't come out, here are a few more pics.

 

[TheDarkPope]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

This weekend I spent some time and redid some art, and made new stencils. This is attempt #2.

Full set of panels were made...

Some rudimentary sizing which I was happy with...

Overall not bad, but there are still some art issues. Not all the holes are getting etched. There's too big of empty space on this panel...

So it's back to the drawing board.

 

[Dalroi]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

That's very impressive work!

I was always put off by the "stickers" HellRubik's too, so this project is great to see being taken forward.

I look forward to the next instalment.

Dalroi.

 

[msleeper]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

That is amazing. How did you get the pieces cut? Please tell me it wasn't by hand.

 

[DocNewborn]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

If someone picks this up and scrambles it, will you be able to 'solve' it?

Because if not, I highly recommend a book from the 80's called "The Simple Solution to Rubik's Cube".



It teaches you solution steps that are independent of 'color', so it might come in handy on this one.

Alex

 

[TheDarkPope]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

That's very impressive work! I look forward to the next instalment.

Thanks, I should have more in the next week or 2.

That is amazing. How did you get the pieces cut? Please tell me it wasn't by hand.

I use chemical etching to make the pieces. Way too intense to cut by hand. I have no patience for that

If someone picks this up and scrambles it, will you be able to 'solve' it?

I learned from a few Youtube vids on how to solve it a few years ago. I'm no speedcuber, but I can solve a regular cube in less than 2 minutes. The ones with designs get a bit more tricky on the last layer.

 

[NakedMoleRat]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

It's gonna be real hard to peel those off and re-stick them. (That's the only way I ever 'solved' a Rubik's cube!)

 

[Arch27]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

That looks pretty freaking awesome.
Keep at it - you'll have it right very soon.

 

[Dalroi]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

Will you be offering sets of the final panels for sale, by any chance..?

Dalroi.

 

[TheDarkPope]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

Will you be offering sets of the final panels for sale, by any chance..?

Once it finally gets done I'll be selling them as a complete cube. The individual panels are rather difficult to deal with as so much surface area has been removed. If I bend or damage a piece (54 pieces in total connected with tiny thin lines), I can just make another one. Not so easy if someone else damages a piece. A long story longer - if someone wants just the panels - that is easily done, but the plan is to sell a completed item.

 

[Dalroi]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

Great!

I would definately be interested in a completed cube. Looking forward to developments! :thumbsup

Dalroi.

 

[TheDarkPope]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

Update, and a few more pictures. Sorry it's taken so long - life happens.

I went through the art files, yelled and screamed at Photoshop for a little while. Remade my stencils only to have to throw them away. I made some huge errors on both stencils that made them useless. So I started again. After some frustration, this is my current version. There will be 1 more version as I found a mistake on one of the panels that has to be corrected. I made some of the connecting lines a pixel or 2 larger for a bit of stability as they were rather flimsy before. I didn't put in a connecting line on a center piece, and it just looks bad because of it. Also in my haste, I didn't develop the film properly so some of the tiny holes didn't etch through the way they should have. All that being said I'm still happy with the progress, and 1 more little fix should be all that's needed. Enjoy.

New panel set

Panel(s) on cube

Panel error that needs to be redone

All together

 

[Dalroi]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

Looking really impressive!

Dalroi.

 

[nick daring]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

Looking pretty good. Cool project.

 

[Mutant-Enemy]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

Looking great DP! Good to chat with you of late, talk soon!

 

[curlyhairedboy]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

fantastic work! is brass etching hard to do?

 

[TheDarkPope]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

Thanks guys, I really appreciate it. I hope to have the final one done by Monday. Keep your fingers crossed.

Mutant-Enemy, didn't know that was you. I admire the hell out of you Cronos piece!

fantastic work! is brass etching hard to do?

There is a learning curve for sure. It isn't hard, but it isn't easy. There's a lot of trial and error figuring things out. There's a lot of money that gets spent on learning (mistakes) and on supplies. Unlike clay where if you make a mistake you can just reform your piece, once your brass is etched, it isn't coming back ever. It takes a long time to be able to look at your piece and find where the trouble spots are, and what to do to correct for that. I still make mistakes. So that's my long winded answer for your short question. I say give it a try. Wear the proper protection and do it in a well ventilated area. Don't breathe in any fumes. If you're under 18, have supervision. It takes a lot of work to end up with a pretty shiny piece when you're done.

 

[curlyhairedboy]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

awesome, i'll look into it, thanks for the information!

 

[PurpleDiamond]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

I have just started taking my first steps in etching brass and it is definitely harder than I thought it would be. I am using overhead projector transparencies in a laser printer and then I use an Iron to bond the toner to the brass. It took about 15 minutes for MOST of the toner to bond to the brass but I still had to make some corrections with a permanent marker. I did the actual etching with PCB etching solution and after 45 minutes I had etched about halfway through a .010" sheet of brass. The edges on my etching are not nearly as smooth as yours.

I would really appreciate if you could provide some details on how you get such great results.

 

[Gigatron]

Re: Because I Hate Stickers!!! An Etched Brass Hellraiser Rubik's Cube WIP

That's a pretty damn cool project :thumbsup

What are you using an adhesive, for the brass - cube? Cyanoacrylate would probably be the strongest, but also the messiest. There's always the super thin CAs, but even they might frost when dry.

I would love to apply these templates over a cube made of mahogany. That would be sweet :cool

Look forward to the seeing the progress.

-Fred