Homebrew PCBs

> Admittedly, I've got NO knowledge of laminator (or even laser 
printer) 
> guts. Is a flat, smooth, heated metal bed, and a rotating, cranked, 
> rubber roller anything at all similar to what would be in them 
(aside 
> from the better controlled feed and temperatures)? I guess if 
Stefan's 
> "both sides at once" suggestion means what I think it does, the 
> laminators are doing consistent heat from both sides simultaneously?
> 
> Sorry for all that text,
> 
> George

Only drawing on data I've researched over the years. Commercial 
laminators, such as is used to apply dry film photoresist to boards, 
have large, metal rollers, that are heated internally. The part that 
makes a laminator better than any iron even by someone experienced, is 
that the laminator usually has /two/ rollers, both applying a high 
point of direct pressure that prevents air from being trapped or heat 
becoming uneven. The GBC laminators have rubber coated rollers 
(silicone or teflon most likely, as the heat on these laminators is 
pretty intense) that are heated above and below (At least Pulsar says 
that both rollers are heated) so that, while they don't have as direct 
a heating system as an expensive laminator, tend to have a much more 
consistent heat. The springs that hold the rollers together also seem 
to be very strong, as you cannot pull the board back out once it's 
started to go through.

Rather than the dowel that Pulsar.gs is suggesting, I would suggest 
something metal. A chrome plumbing pipe might be too weak, you can 
find thicker piping but you bust make sure it has a nice even, smooth 
surface. Leave the iron sitting on it - using a thicker pipe, or even 
a solid metal rod if you can find one, will allow it to retain heat 
better as well. Then try the Pulsar trick, though to me it looks 
rather difficult and if you do use a metal 'roller' you have to make 
sure you don't burn yourself if it slips.

Another idea would be to suspend the iron upside-down, and make a 
'metal rolling pin' so that you can put the board on top of the iron 
and use pressure with the roller rather than the iron. I can't think 
of an easy way to make this safe, however.

I'm sure you'll come up with some better ideas. The HP Laser paper I 
use comes out so well with the roller that maybe if you use this stuff 
it'll be easier to iron on than whatever you're currently using. Just 
remember, start from one side and slowly go to the other. Tilt the 
iron, so you're using the heated edge rather than the whole bottom, to 
make better contact, but only after everything is heated up.