Homebrew PCBs

Phil wrote:
> One of the things that I've been having trouble with on toner 
> transfer is smearing due to either incorrect pressure or too much 
> heat.  My theory is that the smearing is happening because I have to 


   Metal plates are not a bad idea and can make for more even results.  But the 
iron can also work great by itself, holes and moving it shouldn't be a problem. 
  Use the tip of the iron, and only tack down one corner of the print good 
enough to stick well.  Using the tip work a diagonal line through the print, 
then work out from the middle diagonal line to the other corners, then go back 
over and give good heat and pressure to the whole board.  If you're doing the 
whole iron at once at first, you're very likely not getting the toner stuck well 
first and shifting things slightly while initially moving the iron.  You want to 
work a good tacking in first without shifting anything, then get the good 
transfer heat and pressure to get most of the toner on the board.

   And if you're not already doing it, you should run the print back through the 
printer several times for the extra fusing before the transfer.  Much improved 
the results from my transfers.

   But it may still all be just thick toner from large particles, and you'll 
probably never get everything consistent enough to always get the same results 
from thick toner.  The range between too much heat and pressure and too little 
is just too narrow with a large easy to smash particle.  Even with the metal 
sheeting it may be hard to keep things consistent.

   I only ever really got OK results from previous attempts, never the good to 
excellent that I since got from the 600 DPI printer.  I really need to go back 
though and try the other techniques I now do with the other printer, and see how 
much of the quality loss is really just the toner and resolution.  I imagine 
it's most of it though, good results came fast and easy on the 6L.

Alan