Homebrew PCBs

ok, I got some of the office max photo paper.  so far, with three 
tests, I'm underwhelmed.  I think it might require a higher 
temperature - the toner was staying with the paper in places.  This 
is at the same temp setting that I use for magazine paper.  That 
suprises me - I expected the toner to melt at the same point and 
adhere to the copper, regardless of the paper.  I'll try again 
tomorrow when my acetone induced fog clears. lol

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Alan King <alan@n...> wrote:
> Phil wrote:
> 
> > thanks.  here's the state of my "operations":
> > 
> > paper: I'm using magazine semi-glossy.  I'll try some of the 
coated 
> > inkjet paper.  I did have a couple of sheets that I used a while 
ago 
> > and think it had the same problem but I could be misremembering 
as I 
> > was fussing with learning the process.  by the way, passing the 
paper 
> > though the copier multiple times to increase the amount of fusing 
> > seems to have no effect.  it does come out hot so I know its 
> > getting "cooked".
> > 
> > toner density:  I've played with this a lot.  really cranked it 
down 
> > and even at super light settings I am seeing the blotchiness 
along 
> > with complete drop out due to too little toner.  In general, I 
keep 
> > it on the light side.
> > 
> > heat:  I think I've got this right as i started high and kept 
> > dropping it until the toner was not adhering, then kicked it up a 
> > bit. I'm getting good aherence. Using the aluminum sheet metal 
seems 
> > to improve the uniformity of the heating but there is still some 
> > blotchiness.
> > 
> > pressure:  I still think this, along with uneven heating, is part 
of 
> > my problem.  Its hard for me to control which is why I thought 
the 
> > metal plates would do a more even/uniform job.
> > 
> > I'm not going to obsess over this blotchiness as it doesn't keep 
the 
> > board from being usable, it just doesn't look super clean.  I'll 
keep 
> > at it so Me Etch Pretty, Someday.
> > 
> 
> 
> http://www.jetprintphoto.com/c/graphicgloss.asp
> 
>    Try this, or find the Office Max Hammermill equivalent since 
this is also a 
> Hammermill paper.  It has a good coating, and a paper sheet.  I 
think Office Max 
> just bypassed JetPrint and bought their paper direct to make a bit 
more money.
> 
>    Note that magazine paper is very thin and dense, and most has a 
solid 
> coating.  You will easily get the smashing of toner as you're 
getting, there is 
> no where for the toner to go but out.  There are some who swear by 
the magazine 
> paper mainly because it's free, but they also tend to swear you 
must use a 
> laminator etc to get good results.  You can get great results from 
this paper 
> without anything else being special.  And the extra fusing is to 
keep the 
> coating from this type paper from sticking, I wouldn't expect it to 
do much for 
> magazine paper.  I'd assumed you were already using good paper, you 
should try 
> some just to understand the difference in quality and ease.  Even 
if you can 
> live with the magazine quality for now you should see this so you 
know you can 
> step up if you need to later.  You'll spend far more time trying to 
make the 
> magazine paper process good than you will just buying the 50 cents 
a page paper. 
>   And the 20 pages in the pack for $10 lasts a good while if you're 
judicious 
> and print tests on normal paper first etc.
> 
>    Pressure is the problem, but you'll never be able to get 
it 'right' with such 
> a solid dense paper.  You may find a mag with a thicker softer 
paper, but 
> they're few and far between since transport bulk dictates that thin 
highly 
> compressed paper is better for a mag.  For contrast I can barely 
make my prints 
> smash at all or have uneven results, even with intentional wide 
variations in 
> pressure.  This type paper is your limiting factor, not that you 
don't have 
> superhuman or mechanical control over the pressure.
> 
>    A few sheets of normal paper behind may mitigate some of this.  
But even then 
> the coating on the inkjet papers is a bit different and seperates 
from the 
> looser page better.  My prints leave the coating on the toner with 
only a little 
> of the page sticking in the coating, and the extra coating tears 
right at the 
> trace edges, and the resulting transfers are nearly perfect, even 
the holes are 
> left clear even with almost all the coating sticking on the toner.  
I don't 
> think you could get that kind of coating seperation with the highly 
compressed 
> tight bonding of the magazine coating and page.
> 
>    Actually I'll have to try some different magazines and see if 
there's 
> anything out there that's as good.  Free paper would be good.  But 
from how most 
> everyone using it says lamination is absolutely critical and 
knowing the basic 
> construction of most pages I don't really expect to find it, but 
worth checking. 
>   Using this paper and fusing an extra time or two so the unprinted 
coating is 
> dried better and won't stick are almost my whole process, and hard 
to consider 
> that a drawback since the paper and printer do all the work.  After 
that the 
> ironing etc is all very simple, instead of having to get it exactly 
right it's 
> almost impossible to go wrong.
> 
> http://photos.yahoo.com/alantak69
> 
>    Look in PCB, this was a rush job since I expected to have to 
clean it up and 
> it was just a proto board anyway, so was going to have wire jumpers 
etc.  Even 
> with hardly ironing so a couple small pieces didn't stick, it came 
out nearly 
> perfect.  Note the second photo, smooth even fuzz almost 
everywhere, but almost 
> no holes were covered so the copper was properly exposed for etch, 
and only a 
> couple had to be picked at by hand.  Little secondary touch up or 
handling 
> required.  Note the first pic, you can see the image in the coating 
on the page 
> since the coating seperation was so clean.  I only spent about two 
minutes doing 
> the ironing, a little bit more would have likely gotten a perfect 
transfer.  The 
> route through the pins wasn't smashing, I had it drawn a bit wide 
in Eagle but 
> it was still not touching and worked perfectly.  While the pics are 
a bit fuzzy 
> from being close in, the trace edges were sharp.  If your results 
aren't equally 
> easy and painless with just an iron by hand, maybe this will let 
you see it's 
> likely your choice of paper.  It's hard for what I'm doing to even 
mess up.  The 
> stepper board in the other album was a much earlier board, before I 
knew to fuse 
> extra and clean the copper better with acetone.  Still came out 
well, but took a 
> lot more hand work since the coating stuck much more.  That's what 
the extra 
> fusing is for, almost totally eliminates any unprinted coating 
sticking with 
> this easily seperated coating.
> 
> 
>    Bit of a read but hopefully this will help you bypass the idea 
that you need 
> to do a lot of work on heat and pressure, and get you to try some 
other ideas 
> with a better paper.  It's much easier than fixing the process with 
the paper 
> you're using right now, and well worth the 50 cents a page when 
printing boards 
> to make everything else much less critical.
> 
>    It's even hard for me to really work on the print to copper idea 
too hard, 
> this really is easy enough for my light to medium use, and doesn't 
take 
> modifying a printer.  But I think our current ideas on that will 
coexist with 
> normal printing now, so if the testing works it'll be worth finding 
and setting 
> up one printer that can print fine on paper and also straight on 
copper board.
> 
> Alan