Homebrew PCBs

Greetings from the UK. I joined this group a week or so ago. So I am  
new to all this. I have just used the toner method and it seems to  
work fine for me. I am happy.

1] I used one of those abrasive PCB cleaner blocks to get a shiny  
board, making sure not to touch it with greasy fingers afterwards.  
Deburring the edges is easy, you just whack them down the edge of a  
metal table to fold the copper back down. Use a file if you must.

2] Printed my images using an Apple Laserwriter 4/600. I found an  
ancient Mac OS9 version of the laserwriter utility that lets a person  
set the default print density on the printer. The toner cartridge was  
an exchange refill, so nothing special there.

3] Used the wife's domestic iron on a hot setting. Once the paper had  
started to stick down I could happily move the iron around to give an  
even heat. I think the art here is to maintain intimate connection of  
paper and PCB without using undue pressure on the iron to squidge the  
pads and tracks. I didn't time it or anything. After a few trial  
boards it worked fine for me.

I Tried several papers I had around the house. I used a paper often  
used for digital prints called 'Mellotex'. This is made by Tullis  
Russel. Free UK samples 0800 74 74 77. This seems to work OK, I get a  
good dense black but it is a bit hairy. After a good soak in water  
the hairs mostly come off. I found the black toner was so well bonded  
on I could scrub the boards. I also tried a paper called Detec, also  
used a lot by digital print houses, but that was no good at all. The  
wife's silicon baking parchment worked wonderfully on the transfer  
side of things, but didn't accept a very dense coating of toner to  
start with, so I abandoned it.

I looked up that Staples glossy paper, but the UK order codes don't  
seem to match the US ones. Can anyone identify the paper I should try  
for me please?
<http://www.staples.co.uk/ENG/Catalog/cat_class.asp? 
CatIds=1101,1287&name=UK%5FCL%5FPhoto+Paper>

4] Did a quick very minor touch-up with a Staedtler Lumocolor pen.  
318 series. I read that people insist on the red pen, but I used  
black and it works just fine. This I shall have to hide so that my  
wife doesn't steal it for writing on freezer bags in the kitchen.

5] Into a ferric chloride bath

6] Erm, not sure my wife realises her nail varnish remover has  
disappeared yet.

7] Drilled the holes with a cheap but very solid cast metal pillar  
drill that takes a standard drill. This cost 5 GBP, about 8.6 US  
bucks, from LIDL, a European chain store. I've been drilling .5mm  
holes happily on this.

Excellent. Job done. A cheap answer to my needs. I was going to use  
Press'n'Peel but I won't bother with that expense unless I want to  
get down to really fine work. Is P'n'P really that great?

Whoop John