Homebrew PCBs

I don't think any of us will settle on one method or another forever.  
I think half the fun in this for me is trying new stuff and learning a 
lot in the process.

One idea I have been noodling on (of which I have no idea whatsoever 
how to do it) is lasers.  A number of years back I remember seeing a 
laser marking machine that could mark a bunch of pieces with a lot of 
characters in a couple of seconds.  I didn't have time to look at it, 
understand it, watch it more than a couple of cycles, but I do know it 
marked those stainless steel parts - FAST, VERY FAST!  As you would 
expect from laser, with great precision too.

I know that burning through the copper would require a lot more power 
than what this machine had and frankly, that machine was pretty big 
and I wouldn't want it in my shop!

But, it's a method that interests me and who knows, maybe i will get 
back in touch with that company someday soon and get a chance to 
either play with the machine and do some tests, or just learn a bit 
more about it.

The photo process is neat, but I have done normal photo processing and 
such before so there isn't much interest in doing PCBs that way for 
me.  

Now if I could figure out a way to melt copper and then apply it to 
bare PCB board material, that would be really cool too!  If it were 
possible, it would be much more efficient as there would be no need 
for etching, developing, printing, transfer, chemicals, etc. or any 
waste of the copper itself.  Just "Draw" the molten copper onto the 
PCB in the form of traces and your ready to drill!

All in all, it's just something fun to do and learn about for me.

Chris

 
> That's why we are looking at inkjet printing. With some luck it 
would beat  
> both.
> 
> ST
>