Homebrew PCBs

At 02:04 AM 3/12/2009, you wrote:

>I've been pondering methods to improve/hasten/detoxify homemade 
>PCBs, and had a thought occur yesterday: bead blasting. has anybody 
>tried this or seen it done?

yes, i do art glass carving and have such equipment. bead blasters 
will not cut materials and are used to clean motor parts, etc. 
silicon carbide (sand) blasters will quickly cut brittle substrates 
like glass, ceramics, etc but will only surface etch metals. it would 
not cut through the copper foil, but likely would attack the fiber 
board. the mask for sand carving must be very aggressive to withstand 
the blast, typically plotter-cut vinyl or photosensitive resists. the 
air pressure for 'pressure pot' blasting is hardly ever over 30 psi 
while 'siphon' blasters use much higher pressure and air flow. also 
you must use a blast chamber/dust collection system to contain the 
dust or risk silicosis of the lungs. good thought, but won't hasten 
and has some toxic attributes.


William Alford

GI Motility Medical Research Page
http://alford.grimtrojan.com/ 

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