>>5705738Thanks, honestly photo etch isn't all that bad, it's just damn time consuming and fidgety.
It also helps to have a good set of tools to work it correctly (pic related). For example, the pliers in are excellent for holding the piece while I file off the nub. The pointed tweezers are very useful too. They both work equally well for bending. Luckily I inherited a lot of really high quality Lindstrom jewelry tools from my mom who doesn't use them anymore. My sprue cutters are also a pair of Lindstrom that are ~10 years old and still cut perfect to this day.
I also found it's really nifty to use scraping blades (you get get box of 100 for ~$5), as they don't dull quickly, are extremely useful for using as a guide to bending pieces, and are the perfect tool for cutting photo etch from the fret. I also always cut photo etch on top of a glass plate.
