Homebrew PCBs

I just ran up a few boards last weekend. I've had a
great success with the Staples inkjet paper, but based
on the recent discussions, and the fact I had some
extra time, I decided to try a few other papers and
techniques.

I am using a Samsung ML-2010 with third party refill
toner and a Xerox laminator.

Paper: the best and most amazing result was with the
paper from the SEARS flyer in the sunday paper! Great
transfer and almsot fell off under hot water.

Fusing the toner: after removing the paper and before
etching, I flash fused the toner using a hair dryer. I
flash fused half of a test board. The flash fused
portion has excellent 0.006" traces, where the
"normal" 0.006" traces were very crappy and had gaps.

Etching: I used a Muriatic Acid / H2O2 etch. 3 parts
water, 2 parts Muriatic Acid and 1 part 40 volume
H2O2. It gave a etching time of about 3 minutes. A
little quick, next time I'll reduce the H2O2 a bit.

"Tinning": Well not actually "tinning" per say more
like protecting the traces from oxidation. I had read
about using Future floor wax as a resist. And yes it
does work. This time I wiped a thin coat on the trace
side after etching and let it dry. Soldering was no
problem.

Just a few more tweaks to the Toner Tranfer process.

Myc


--- "Herbert E. Plett" <cachureos@...> wrote:

> 
> 
> --- kilocycles <kilocycles@...> wrote:
> ...
> > I tried a page from Popular Science magazine
> (twice), and the printer
> > wrinkled the paper.  So, I happend to have an
> Orion Telescopes catalog
> > lying there, and it had slightly thicker paper,
> and it worked.
> 
> just fix it to normal paper. increases thickness and
> fuses better.
> 
> ...
> > Surprisingly, I seem to have gotten a usable board
> transfer.  However,
> > after soaking for over 24 hours in water, the
> paper is still difficult
> > to remove, unlike the reports regarding the
> magazine paper.  One thing
> > that may be the cause is that, apparently, the
> catalog is not printed
> > using water-based ink, since it does not smear
> when wet.  I suppose
> > that would make the printed paper less permeable
> to water, and
> > possibly, the print ink may have fused as well.
> 
> catalog and magazine paper is good if the pages
> 'stick together' when wetted, 
> pressed and let to dry...
> 
> 
> 
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