More attempts

Well, I've successfully found more ways that salt etching doesn't work. Or more acurately, the toner transfer.

I tried a few variations on the dry transfer and hot iron method, but the toner wouldn't take. It either won't mount onto the paper, or won't transfer onto the metal.

I'm going to have one more go at doing a transfer with the soak method, but then infill with something (sharpie? nail polish?) to try and compensate for the thin layer of toner.

Which I'm 80% certain is the cause of my issues - the printer not laying down enough toner. I could try printing at work, but even if that proved an instant success, it would be of limited value to me. It would be a pain to have an established method that works great but then have the work printer replaced, or get sent to work at another spot where they don't have one.

If the next attempt is a fail, I might give in and drop a few dollars on proper photosensitive film and do up the transfer that way...