Custom photo etch?

You are the first person I've found who has actually used one of these kits. Did you find it gave you all the info to use it or did you have to hunt down additional info? Is it really as easy as it sounds in the description?

I'm quite willing to spend the $119, I just don't want to order a kit and find out to really do much with it I have to order a bunch more stuff.

Any recommendations of additional supplies that should be ordered? metal sheets, solution etc?

Thanks

It's not so much the price, as the price and having no idea what I'm getting into. I started resin casting a few years back and the start up on that was more than with the PE but I had several people who I could bounce ideas and questions off of before committing to it. The same thing with decals although in that case I decided the ALPS situation was too unstable for the money and stuck with the stuff I can do with inkjet and I'll just pay one of the custom printers for the stuff I can't do myself.

I haven't been able to find so much as a review on the do it yourself PE so if you run across that article I'd like to see it.

Thanks  

The chemicals are not as bad as one might think.The echant comes as a dry chemical (ferric cholride) you mix with water...rubber gloves and eye protection. Once you make your initial investment you'll be able to make as many as you want. The comsumables are cheap enough, its the time spent doing the artwork that makes it expensive to have someone else make the master.

I found starter kits for as little as $70 and higher as you add the bells and whistles.

The question is how much are you willing to spend for a custom one time only decal sheet or PE fret? If someone was to product them...the only way the costs could be made reasonable is the subject being desired by others so it could be marketed to them as well. 

I know there is a kit out there to do it yourself, but its over $100. From what little I've been able to find it sounds like for the person who already has the set up and some experience with it, that it might not be much more difficult than printing decals on an ALPS (although a bit more hazardous due to the chemicals). Since there are a few people doing custom decals I thought there might be someone out there doing custom PE.

I'd try doing it myself but between the cost of the kit and the nature of the chemicals involved I'm not that enthusiastic about jumping in without an experienced mentor to point me in the right direction. Resin casting and printing decals isn't really all that hard either with someone to help you avaoid the pit falls but would have been extremely difficult to pick up completely on my own and they don't involved metal eating acids.