Homebrew PCBs

I have only used brother laser printers for toner transfers for 6 yrs now and never had any problems with it. I used photo and magazine paper and it works bout the same both ways. I even tried with bonded paper the other day just messing around for a minute and parts of it bonded to the copper clad board too :) 

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "leeleduc" <leeleduc@...> wrote:
>
> I may have a possible solution to using Brother Laser printers for Toner Transfer PCB's. I was at Staples and was able to get a sample print out of a Brother HL-2240 laser printer. The paper was standard 20lb laser printer paper, nothing special. The MSDS for the toner cartridge says it is polyester based. I found that acetone dissolved the lettering on the printed paper and is a solvent for this toner. I tried the following experiment.
> 
> 1. I took a sample of the printed paper and exposed it to acetone  fumes for 20 minutes in a sealed plastic food container. The toner became slightly tacky to the touch.
> 
> 2. I ran the paper and pcb through a GBC laminator 8 times.
> 
> 3. I soaked the board in warm water for a few minutes and peeled off the paper. The toner fused to the copper very well. You can feel the raised toner on the copper with your finger.
> 
> 4. The paper left a film on the toner which I removed with soapy water and a soft tooth brush. While the toner does have some pinholes, it is definitely fused to the copper.
> 
> If you have a Brother laser printer it would be interesting to experiment using a known good type of paper and finding an optimum exposure time to the acetone fumes.
> 
> The results are in the photo section in the Brother "HL-2240 experiment" folder.
> 
> Happy experimenting!
>