Homebrew PCBs

On Wed, 17 Jan 2007 20:43:17 +0100, Roland Harriston <rolohar@...>  
wrote:

> I think what I would strive for would be a glossy, clay coated paper that
> is not heavy stock like most inkjet papers.  Some inkjet papers a nearly
> as thick as card stock.......tough  to dissolve, requiring scrubbing.
> I think I would like to have a thinner stock, something like that used  
> for
> Time magazine, catalogs, and others. The reason for going to a thinner
> stock is that
> it would dissolve much faster and easier than the thicker stock used for
> inkjet paper.
> So, that's why I suggested trying to get some "Time magazine"
> type paper from a local printing establishment.

Yes, thinner is better. But some photo papers are barely thicker than  
regular copy paper (100g/sqm compared to 80g/sqm), and i'm not sure much  
thinner paper is good with feeding and distortion and stuff. Taking the  
bulk thickness of paper away takes only a few seconds if you roll it off.  
You can speed up soaking by giving it a brush with a brass wire brush  
(after transfer), that breaks the surface. It seems to me the surface is  
what takes long to soak through. If you only make a few scratches and dunk  
it you can see how the paper goes dark around the scratches.

> Unfortunately, there are no big-scale printing houses in my
> immediate area.  We once had a large Alpha Graphics operation
> here, but they moved out due to lack of business.

Same here. I remember we got huge blocks of paper out of the dumpster when  
we were children. Could've made a life's worth of TT with a single dive in  
the dumpster i reckon, if it was the right paper, the cutoffs were more  
than plenty large for PCBs.
Maybe if someone has a printer nearby he oughta check the dumpsters!

Can't hurt to try, but i wouldn't put too much effort into it, since the  
paper store stuff is just fine. Cutting the sheets in half makes it a bit  
cheaper.

ST