Homebrew PCBs

and Cutronics copper foil? A company in England claims good results 
although not as cheap as TT.  Mike

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...> wrote:
> and Cutronics copper foil? A company in England claims good results 
> although not as cheap as TT.  Mike

Interesting. So the idea is to cut the copper and apply to a bare
fiberglass board?

I've used a vinyl sign cutter and used the vinyl as the resist. See
samples in the Files section. However, small traces are very difficult
to weed. It may or may not be easier with copper.

When you cut the vinyl, the adhesive flows together behind the blade.
Then when weeding, the vinyl tends to lift thin pieces and stretch
them out or snap them. Copper being stiffer, it may not be as much of
an issue but imagine having to weed all the holes on a board with a
few 28 and 40 pin ICs.

Steve Greenfield

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...> wrote:
> and Cutronics copper foil? A company in England claims good results 
> although not as cheap as TT.  Mike

BTW, from what I've read in various sign forums, the Stika cutters are
considered kind of low end cutters.

No reason you can't use another cutter, anything that is rated to be
able to cut sandblast mask should handle Cutronics copper foil.

I made a couple of PCBs using cut vinyl as resist, using an old
Graphtec vinyl sign cutter. On the one that is undrilled, I used sort
of a surface mount construction using standard parts with leads
clipped short.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/files/Sign_Cutter_to_make_PCBs/>

I think results could be very useable with the right brand/type of
vinyl and with CNC predrilled holes. It's very quick to do, on this
cutter I can do up to about 18 inches wide so that's a lot of boards.
Even on my old, slow cutter it's done pretty quickly and as you can
see there is very little undercutting. However, the adhesive on the
vinyl I used was a little stringy and caused some slightly rough edges.

There are brands of vinyl specifically made so the adhesive does not
reseal behind the cutter.

Steve Greenfield

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...> wrote:
> and Cutronics copper foil? A company in England claims good results 
> although not as cheap as TT.  Mike

Not too bad.

http://www.techsoftuk.co.uk/

130 pounds for a roll 55m long and 200mm wide, or 10 sheets 300x200mm
for 10 pounds. Shipping could be a bit.

Steve Greenfield

From their site, it seems that the cutting machines themselves are 
only available for sale to educational institutions and, beyond that, 
only to ones that are located in the UK.


Regards, Bob


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <alienrelics@y...>
wrote:
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...> 
wrote:
> > and Cutronics copper foil? A company in England claims good 
results 
> > although not as cheap as TT.  Mike
> 
> Not too bad.
> 
> http://www.techsoftuk.co.uk/
> 
> 130 pounds for a roll 55m long and 200mm wide, or 10 sheets
300x200mm

> for 10 pounds. Shipping could be a bit.
> 
> Steve Greenfield

Thank you Steve!

Mike

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <alienrelics@y...> 
wrote:
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...> 
wrote:
> > and Cutronics copper foil? A company in England claims good 
results 
> > although not as cheap as TT.  Mike
> 
> BTW, from what I've read in various sign forums, the Stika cutters 
are
> considered kind of low end cutters.
> 
> No reason you can't use another cutter, anything that is rated to 
be
> able to cut sandblast mask should handle Cutronics copper foil.
> 
> I made a couple of PCBs using cut vinyl as resist, using an old
> Graphtec vinyl sign cutter. On the one that is undrilled, I used 
sort
> of a surface mount construction using standard parts with leads
> clipped short.
> 
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/files/Sign_Cutter_to_mak
e_PCBs/>
> 
> I think results could be very useable with the right brand/type of
> vinyl and with CNC predrilled holes. It's very quick to do, on this
> cutter I can do up to about 18 inches wide so that's a lot of 
boards.
> Even on my old, slow cutter it's done pretty quickly and as you can
> see there is very little undercutting. However, the adhesive on the
> vinyl I used was a little stringy and caused some slightly rough 
edges.
> 
> There are brands of vinyl specifically made so the adhesive does 
not

> reseal behind the cutter.
> 
> Steve Greenfield

Those look like they are just regular vinyl sign cutters. Check out
the Links on the signmaker list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/signmaker

Steve Greenfield

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Bob_xyz" <bob_barr@h...> wrote:

> From their site, it seems that the cutting machines themselves are 
> only available for sale to educational institutions and, beyond that, 
> only to ones that are located in the UK.
> 
> 
> Regards, Bob
> 
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <alienrelics@y...>
> wrote:
> > --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...> 
> wrote:
> > > and Cutronics copper foil? A company in England claims good 
> results 
> > > although not as cheap as TT.  Mike
> > 
> > Not too bad.
> > 
> > http://www.techsoftuk.co.uk/
> > 
> > 130 pounds for a roll 55m long and 200mm wide, or 10 sheets
> 300x200mm
> > for 10 pounds. Shipping could be a bit.
> > 
> > Steve Greenfield