Homebrew PCBs

Hi all,

I've read some of the "Laser Wars' posts going on and thought you all 
might like a different point of view.

I did my fist PCB with iron transfer from a glossy sheet from a laser 
printer.

I was satisfied with the results.

my recommendation was that no traces should go between pads and that 
a sharpie and a good visual inspection was needed to verify that any 
traces were good.  and a scratch awl was needed to isolate those 
traces that bleed together.

I still do Iron transfer. it's just too darn quick for simple 
circuits.    for example I need a couple screw terminals a rectifier 
and a cap for a power supply.  it don't get much simpler and all I am 
using the board for is to hold the parts together.  That is easy to 
do with a sharpie, but with the LED's and stuff, I like the neat 
looking board of the iron transfer.

I skipped right past everything else and got a used T-tech machine so 
when I make boards now, it is either by hand with a sharpie, laser 
transfer, in-house routing or send stuff out.

(I want to make a CNC etcher and sell the T-tech.)

The Laser Wars seems to be arguing about trivial stuff.  

for example, If I used the line of logic, then the T-tech could be 
considered total junk because I cannot etch a dozen traces between 
pads of an IC.  But, when was the last time YOU tried to put a dozen 
traces between pads ?  My cad program can easily fit 20 or more lines 
between the pads.....  

Nothing it fool proof as fools can be extremely clever.  and you 
can't say it can't be done as that is a challenge to the gifted.  you 
can say YOU can't do it. and that opens a different line.

if YOU can't do it, ask those who can, how they did it.   

And the opposite goes for those who enjoy the benefits of cranking 
out good work, ask what problems are occuring.  If you can do it, you 
know it can be done.

I assume we already figured out that the thickness of the film will 
cause a shadow if the toner is not against the board right ?

Personally I would prefer the discussion of the miniscule details of 
HOW to get it to work and the technical limits of the parts. 

How wide can a laser toner trace be ?  ditto for an inkjet.

what tricks do you use to get the higher density stuff ?

at what point is it really too hard to get more details ?   I found 
that iron transfers make traces between pads is pushing the 
technology.

Each technology has it's benefits and it's problems.

as a lurker and occasional poster, I'm much more interested in the 
HOW TO's.

Dave