I need a new machine. Recommendations please.

[Jacob John]

Man, I'm looking at both chemical and electro etching, and first glaring thing, I don't see anyone using it to fully cut sheet metal. Maybe it's just not heavily discussed. Second, there aren't any machines out there to purchase. I don't want to even consider this type of application without heavy safety features that usually come with something built by a company that is a subject matter expert. I see people using car batteries, phone chargers, etc. It's downright scary.

[Brennan Sheremeto]

[QUOTE=Kev Williams;2852666]

It's 1-1/4" diameter 304 SS tube-- He's tried making them from flat, doesn't work well enough to suit him...

ohh, yea I can see why something that small doesn't work well from flat. Tough part to make for sure.

[Jacob John]

Ok I need some help understanding photo-chemical etching. If I'm wanting to cut straight through a piece of sheet metal, I use resist on one side, remove the resist are needing to be cut, then spray from the top the area being removed? I see some machines where they are using both sides with identical resist (dual sided) but why is that necessary with thin sheet metal?