Homebrew PCBs

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Jim Hutchinson <jhutch17@...> wrote:
>
> Ted Bruce KX4OM wrote:
> > Jim,
> > I found the same problem with residue in the space between the traces
> > as you did, using clay-coated inkjet paper and glossy photo inkjet
> > paper.  (Good tip on the laundry detergent; I'll have to try that, as
> > glossy paper's fast pull-off is easier than rag-content paper's
> > rub-off process).  I switched to catalog paper, non-glossy, from the
> > Harbor Freight mailed catalog, in fact.  I have to tape it to regular
> > printer paper to get it to travel through the machine unwrinkled. 



Ok, first pass at TT in about 8 years looks pretty promising. This
latest round was using a paper I really like. The only flaw is I
clearly had to much pressure on the one side of the board. I think 2
things would help this. One is a wide border all the way around as ST
has suggested several times (forgot that on this one). The other is
more toner, less copper. The RF end with the ground fill turned out
really good. The digital end with lots of Cu got squished out. I think
a ground pour over the whole board would really help the uniformity.
Now the best part, the paper I used needed no scrubbing or rubbing. I
pre-wrmed the board for about 30 seconds (layed a peice of paper on it
and set the iron on that with a medium-hot setting. I carefully placed
the image on the hot board (possibly to hot & this may have been some
of the smearing) and then placed the iron on top for about 2 minutes
total with a sheet of plain paper between. Mostly even pressure but
some ironing motion (also may have cause smearing although board &
paper were held tight). 
I let the board cool and then slightly scored the paper with a utility
knife (maybe 20 criss-crosses). I set the board in the sink and ran
warm water on it & then let it soak. Went to scrub the paper 5 minutes
later and there was no paper to scrub. the entire piece had released
the toner and floated off the board. Best experience ever with TT.

pics of the intial run or in the pgdion folder.

Tough part now is the paper I used I had bought 2 years ago at Office
Max as a cheap photo paper. It didn't make good photographs so I never
used it much, kind of a magazine quality to the prints. Of course now
they no longer sell it. It was called Office Max Premium Glossy Inkjet
Paper,  180g / 7mil, and was product number 28916 Glossy

Closest they have now is 210g / 8.3mil but I have found others selling
the 180g photo paper still. The trick is finding the right finish.
This had a cheap semi-glossy look to it. 
I just bought a new paper from Office depot that I will try this
weekend. It looks similar to the Office max paper and the prints to it
look pretty good. They call it Glossy Brochure/Flyer Paper, 43lb. I'll
post results on Monday.

Also have my UV up & running but no test boards yet. I hope to be able
to use TT for most things and save UV for the tough stuff.

pgd
(aka Bert)