Homebrew PCBs

Cold toner transfer:

Since my name has been mentioned, I thought I might make a comment:

1. There are many types of toners, using different types of heat 
sensitive polymers.
2. Each toner is going to have a different "solvent".........for lack of 
a better word.
     If you don't use the material that is the "solvent" for the 
particular toner you are
     working with, to cannot possibly get a good cold transfer.
3. The paper does not really contribute very much to the cold transfer 
process,
     but some types of paper may absorb more of the solvent and thus aid in
     transferring the solvent-softened toner.

4. Some toners may dissolve in several liquids. Others may dissolve in 
only one.
     Acetone, xylene and naphtha seem to be the  most common, but there 
might be
     toners that don't dissolve in any of the above. So, first, you want 
to determine if the
     solvent you are using does actually dissolve (soften) the toner you 
are using.

5. Applying heat to ANY solvent can be dangerous.

6. I do not own a laser printer.  I use the same copy store all the 
time, and it appears that they
     use the same toner in their machines all the time.  So I  always 
get a good cold transfer.

Regards,

Roland F. Harriston
On 10/14/2016 4:39 PM, alan00463@... [Homebrew_PCBs] wrote:
>
> Thank you for sharing your 2 cents, Harvey.
>
> I tried cold toner transfer on glossy coupon flyers from McDonalds,
> but they failed to lift from the paper.   Looking around for paper 
> that was "glossy but flexible" to print on, I also found and tried a  
> Techni-tool catalog cover, a CVS Pharmacy sticker backing, and an 
> Avery address label sticker backing.    All failed.   So I'm 
> postponing my cold toner transfer tries until I can get some Office 
> One "Business Gloss" 32lb. 92 brilliance glossy paper Roland F. 
> Harriston reported worked well awhile back.
>
> Meanwhile, a bunch of my circuit's artwork piled up on a pile of 
> ORACALl 651 vinyl stickers.   So I got out the iron & did some that way.
>
> My first impression looked good.   So I etched it with ferric chloride 
> and tinned the traces with Tinnit solution.    It looked great.   
> Until I looked a little closer and notice I'd forgotten to print the 
> pads on this through-hole board.   D'oH!!!!   But it had another major 
> flaw -- an unwanted trace shorting out 3 pins on an opamp chip.
>
> So I re-ironed the board by following Adam Kohring's instructions to 
> the letter:
> Print Your Own Circuit Boards 
> <https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-print-your-own-circuit-board/transfer-the-toner>
> EXCEPT I ironed it on for 5 minutes, rather than 2.
>
> It worked.   The traces are well-defined.   However, about 30% of their
> interior is lacking toner where it ought be.   Does this mean I need to
> buy a new toner cartridge to replace the original  one I've been using for
> 11 years ?
>
> Well, on October 3, I removed the old image and ironed another one on, 
> following Adam Kohring, since I had two more artwork prints.   This 
> time I used a timer to ensure I only ironed it 2 min.
>
> It failed.    Maybe I didn't hold the iron still enough for 20 s.
> Maybe do it for 30 s.    However, I DID NOT get the voids in the traces
> that I did last time.   That's good.
>
> My third try WORKED!   YAY!   The traces are about 95% covered on
> their interiors.   I just gotta remember:
> 2 min. in oven -- 30s holding down the iron--2 min. total ironing.
>
> I will go over the tiny holes w/ Sharpies.
>
> I couldn't really do the holes using the 3X magnifying lens.  They
> were too hard to see until I put them under the 10X loupe.
>
> Oct 14
>
> I just went over the tiny holes in traces using an ultra-fine tipped
> Sharpie.   My Vision Technologies VT100 19in. CRT magnifier is inval-
> uable for this purpose.   I saw holes in the toner as big as
> 0.005185 of a 0.086 in. trace, or 0.0004 in.  That's about 0.4 mil.
> I filled 'em in with my ultra-fine-tip Sharpie.
>
> WIlll etch it tomorrow,
> Alan
>
>
>
> 	
> image 
> <https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-print-your-own-circuit-board/transfer-the-toner> 
>
> 	
> 	
> Print Your Own Circuit Boards 
> <https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-print-your-own-circuit-board/transfer-the-toner> 
>
> Begin printing your own circuit boards now!
> 	
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> <https://learn.adafruit.com/how-to-print-your-own-circuit-board/transfer-the-toner> 
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