Homebrew PCBs

First Time Road Map to Success

Since I don't have someone experienced standing next to me to
show me the techniques, I figure I'd need a road map in order
to get where I'm going.  So I made one, using all the informa-
tion I got from this forum and from the worldwide web, concen-
trating on procedures I thought I could follow and materials 
I have either obtained or am reasonably confident I can get.

Goal:

My goal is to a make a simple, single-sided, through-hole-com-
ponent board that has copper traces on one side of the board
and components with a white component legend on the other
side--one that works reliably and looks professional.

I"m assuming the Cu (copper) board has been cut to size be-
fore beginnning.    I have also prototyped the circuit on a 
breadboard to make sure it works, and have laid out its two
layers w/ Eagle CAD.

One layer is the component legend layer, with outlines of 
components showing how they are to be connected and text 
containing date and name.   The other layer is the artwork
for the Cu traces.

I have not yet been down the path to this goal.   So I made
a map that consists of a series of steps.    A checklist, if
you will.   

Plan:

I'm planning to use the Gootee toner-transfer method to do
the Cu artwork on a laser printer
(http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg/gooteepc.htm).
Etch w/ H2O2 and muriatic acid.  Since my HP LaserJet 2200 
prints only in
black toner, I plan to have the component legend layer prin-
ted onto the same transfer paper at the local copy  store,
using a color laser printer that prints in white.


Feedback:

If you have already been down this path to this
particular goal, as I'm sure many of you have at least once,
please advise me if I have missed a step or gotten steps 
out-of-order or something.  Any other suggestions?  Your 
feedback is much appreciated.


Road Map:

1.  Print Cu traces onto white paper, using black toner.

2.  Make sure all components fit the pads on the traces.
Recreate artwork as necessary.

3.  Reverse (L-R) Cu trace artwork image.  Print reversed
image onto transfer paper, using black toner.

4.  Reverse (L-R) component legend layer image.   Have
printer print it onto transfer paper using white toner on
a color laser printer.

5.  Press black toner onto Cu board using iron.   Let dry.

6.  Inspect black toner for breaks; correct as necessary 
w/ Sharpie pen.

7.  Etch Cu from board.

8.  Strip toner from board using acetone & toothbrush.

9.  Scrub board.   Wash board w/ distilled water.  Let dry.

10.  Spray Cu trace side of board w/ green spray paint.  Let
dry.

11.  Drill board.   Inspect for damage to traces & correct as needed.

12.  Get components.

13.  Make sure component leads fit holes.   Redrill as needed.

14.  Press white toner (from step 4) onto component side of board
using iron.  Let dry.

15.  Spray clear coat over component legend w/ PCB lacquer or
acrylic spray.  Let dry.

16.  Populate board w/ components, soldering to trace side.  Test
board.  Make it work.

17.  Trim component leads to solder surface.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "alan00463" <alan00463@y...> wrote:
>
> First Time Road Map to Success
I forgot:

4.5  Scrub bare Cu board w/ nylon scouring pad.   Let dry.

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "alan00463" <alan00463@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 22, 2006 5:45 PM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] TT - 1st time Roadmap to Success


> First Time Road Map to Success
>
> Since I don't have someone experienced standing next to me to
> show me the techniques, I figure I'd need a road map in order
> to get where I'm going.  So I made one, using all the informa-
> tion I got from this forum and from the worldwide web, concen-
> trating on procedures I thought I could follow and materials
> I have either obtained or am reasonably confident I can get.

I keep things as simple as possible: transparency printed on ink jet 
printer, UV exposure on positive resist, develop, etch, clean off resist, 
and drill. A component legend isn't really needed, I just work off the 
computer screen when assembling the board.

Leon 

---
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--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "alan00463" <alan00463@y...> 
wrote:
<snip>
> 
> 3.  Reverse (L-R) Cu trace artwork image.  Print reversed
> image onto transfer paper, using black toner.
> 

If you are putting the image on the bottom side of the PCB, it should 
not be reversed. Picture what the image will look like viewing it 
through the board. Top copper patterns need to be reversed; bottom 
ones don't.


Regards, Bob

> 3.  Reverse (L-R) Cu trace artwork image.  Print reversed
>
> image onto transfer paper, using black toner.

Note that usually you "see through" the PCB in a layout software, that  
means you would not mirror any transfer to the bottom and mirror all  
transfers for the top. Check twice for your first board!

>
>
> 4.  Reverse (L-R) component legend layer image.   Have
>
> printer print it onto transfer paper using white toner on
>
> a color laser printer.
>
>
> 5.  Press black toner onto Cu board using iron.   Let dry.

Make sure you transfer the traces onto the copper and the legend onto the  
bare side. Don't ask.

5.5 Soak and peel/rub off paper.

> 6.  Inspect black toner for breaks; correct as necessary
>
> w/ Sharpie pen.
>
>
> 7.  Etch Cu from board.
>
>
> 8.  Strip toner from board using acetone & toothbrush.

or scrape it of with something with a hard edge, a steel scraper or  
another PCB.


ST

At 01:09 PM 1/22/2006, you wrote:
>--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "alan00463" <alan00463@y...>
>wrote:
><snip>
> >
> > 3.  Reverse (L-R) Cu trace artwork image.  Print reversed
> > image onto transfer paper, using black toner.
> >
>
>If you are putting the image on the bottom side of the PCB, it should
>not be reversed. Picture what the image will look like viewing it
>through the board. Top copper patterns need to be reversed; bottom
>ones don't.
>
>
>Regards, Bob



This one can really bite you.
  It helps a lot to always have some text on the layer to be fabricated to 
so you can see if it is mirrored or not..

-carl

Thanks to all for your comments and helpful suggestions.
I have revised my roadmap, and look forward to beginning
the journey very soon.

Alan

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "alan00463" <alan00463@...>

> 4.  Reverse (L-R) component legend layer image.   Have
> printer print it onto transfer paper using white toner on
> a color laser printer.

Or, print black toner on normal transfer paper. In step 14, transfer the 
black legend toner to the component side. Step 14a, laminate with Pulsar's 
white TRF if you want a white legend instead of black. Black works just fine 
for one sided boards. I like it even better than white.

> 5.  Press black toner onto Cu board using iron.   Let dry.

(Let dry? Board and toner should be dry at the start and at the finish.)

 A hot clothes iron is usable, but a laminator is much more consistent. 
(Roadmap for brain-dead success.)

> 6.  Inspect black toner for breaks; correct as necessary
> w/ Sharpie pen.

It helps me to believe line breaks are not random. The major culprits are 
rough board edges, oily fingerprints, dust and lint, and inconsistent 
heat/pressure. OTOH, they might just be random and your time is better spent 
on minor touch-ups.

> 8.  Strip toner from board using acetone & toothbrush.
>
> 9.  Scrub board.   Wash board w/ distilled water.  Let dry.

Gum-Out dissolves toner without heavy scrubbing. Regardless, follow up with 
denatured alcohol and lint free cloth. I would skip the distilled water 
rinse.

> 13.  Make sure component leads fit holes.   Redrill as needed.

If possible, fit the part to the board if needed, rather than monkey with 
the board and traces. Be sure to correct the part library in your software. 
(Speaking of which, run a careful design check after layout and before 
printing. Best to make that step 0.0.)

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "alan00463" <alan00463@...>


> 4.  Reverse (L-R) component legend layer image.   Have
> printer print it onto transfer paper using white toner on
> a color laser printer.

Do they really have white toner? I would think any printing process is 
inherently subtractive, CMYK, rather than RGB. Except transparencies, of 
course, and even that wouldn't have white.

How do color laserjets work? Is it a single pass?

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Mike Young" <mikewhy@s...> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "alan00463" <alan00463@y...>
> 
> 
> > 4.  Reverse (L-R) component legend layer image.   Have
> > printer print it onto transfer paper using white toner on
> > a color laser printer.
> 
> Do they really have white toner? I would think any printing process is 
> inherently subtractive, CMYK, rather than RGB. Except
transparencies, of 
> course, and even that wouldn't have white.
> 
> How do color laserjets work? Is it a single pass?

I phoned the printer.   The woman at the print shop said that yes,
they could print in white toner using the color laser printer onto a
nonwhite paper.    However, I have not yet tried it.   I was thinking
of just using the same transfer paper that I use for the Cu board
trace artwork.     I may decide to buy some of the white TRF paper
instead, or use black toner if the fiberglass is light enough.

On Mon, 23 Jan 2006 13:56:06 +0100, Mike Young <mikewhy@...>  
wrote:

>
>
> Do they really have white toner? I would think any printing process is
>
> inherently subtractive, CMYK, rather than RGB. Except transparencies, of
>
> course, and even that wouldn't have white.
>
>
> How do color laserjets work? Is it a single pass?
>


I'm not aware of any white toner. As far as i know the only way to get  
white is ribbon type printers.

But i don't understand why it would be required to be white, black is  
perfectly fine and any other color would work too, apart from the color  
the PCB is, so yellow is possibly the worst choice and white doesn't  
really seem such a good idea either. Note that industrial boards use dark  
green soldermask - so white is good and black is bad, but for a bare PCB  
that is not true.

ST

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
<stefan_trethan@g...> wrote:

> 
> I'm not aware of any white toner. As far as i know the only way to get  
> white is ribbon type printers.

They've been working on it for several years. Last I'd heard, it was
in the "almost here, a few bugs to work out" state. But I'd not been
following it for about 6 months.

Check the Transfer Solutions yahoogroup.

Steve Greenfield

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <alienrelics@y...> wrote:
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
> <stefan_trethan@g...> wrote:
> 
> > 
> > I'm not aware of any white toner. As far as i know the only way to
get  
> > white is ribbon type printers.
> 
> They've been working on it for several years. Last I'd heard, it was
> in the "almost here, a few bugs to work out" state. But I'd not been
> following it for about 6 months.
> 
> Check the Transfer Solutions yahoogroup.
> 
> Steve Greenfield
>
I just searched through Yahoo! Groups with the words "transfer
solutions" and didn't find any such group.
I am thinking about getting the WhiteTRF paper to try.   Either that,
or I will get an inkjet printer.   Will an inkjet printer make white?

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "alan00463" <alan00463@y...> 
wrote: Will an inkjet printer make white?

Not any I've had here. :(

After getting a laser for PCB's, I'm finally realizing how much I 
hated the inks. Even if I'm stuck to B&W, not having to constantly run 
out of ink is well worth the loss.

I think the TRF is the safest way to go. It's only about 6 or 7 bucks 
a roll. If they haven't already popped in, someone in here answered a 
few questions for me a while back about it. They said it was more 
powdery, so it wasn't ideal for dual duty as a replacement for the 
green trace coating TRF, but should make good labels. Sorry I can't 
recall exactly who told me (I always appreciate the help).

BTW- With the cutting, I've learned to go oversize on the initial 
boards. I usually do almost an eighth inch all around with some layout 
lines for subsequent trimming. I've had most of my trouble with 
foolishly placing thin runs near the edges. I either eat too close to 
them while trimming, or the board is of a slightly inconsistent 
thickness near the copper burrs at the edge, and doesn't take as solid 
of a transfer. It's also nice to have plenty of space around your 
mounting or standoff holes, to avoid having screws sitting on, or 
shorting anything, or not having enough board at the outside corners.

I've done scroll saw, and "score & snap" with utility knives and glass 
cutters on boards with a few different substrates. It all works, but 
lately I'll just clamp the board down to my workbench, under a wide 
flat block of wood, with the edge hanging off the table. I then saw my 
line with a hacksaw, or even a raw hacksaw blade, taking really light 
strokes at a fairly small angle. This seems to keep the cut line 
straighter, and minimizes some of the blade/board wiggle. As I near 
the end of the cut, I'll raise it more perpendicular, to avoid wasting 
board and cutting way beyond my stop point. I usually cut more on a 
downstroke, and try not to press too hard. I think when I start the 
cuts, I even do only downstrokes until the blade is stable. The board 
wiggle and binding of the teeth in reverse is the main trouble, 
especially with part of the board unsupported. Other than that, the 
whole thing only takes a few minutes, and I've had to cut much harder 
and messier materials in the past. I've got a tile saw here, and 
diamond wheels for my radial, but it probably isn't worth the setup 
hassle, unless I had to produce a whole sheet of boards (unlikely). 
I'm not sure how the cutoff wheels do on a dry run. It's more of a 
smooth "burning" action, which is great with the water, but it may not 
be too safe without it. I had to wear a "leaf bag apron" for cutting 
tile, and it sprays crap all over the place. My tile rig's blade also 
sits at a fixed height, so with thin softer material like boards, it 
seems you'd be even more likely to bind or screw something up, as 
you'd be passing much more blade area. Could be different with the 
fully coated wheel, but my saws will kill you for that.

I usually do my final trimming to the border lines with a belt sander 
running parallel to the board edge, and then stroke a file downward 
across them, at a shallow angle, to clean the copper burrs and level 
the edges. A sander will eat board surprisingly fast, but they both 
sort of work on each other simultaneously, so you're best to use an 
old belt and not expect it to be much good afterward. I've also had 
decent success just laying a full piece of coarse or medium sandpaper 
on a heavy, flat board or bench, and just "slicing" the PCB 
perpendicular across it, back and forth, as if trying to score or saw 
the paper. Just keep your lines moving across the paper throughout, so 
you'll usually have clean grit to work with. This does pretty well 
when there's less board to remove, and I'll also do it with fine 
paper, after the belt sometimes, to smooth or square the edges.

Hope some of that helps,

George

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "soffee83" <soffee83@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 10:34 PM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: TT - 1st time Roadmap to Success


> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "alan00463" <alan00463@y...>
> wrote: Will an inkjet printer make white?
>
> Not any I've had here. :(
>
> After getting a laser for PCB's, I'm finally realizing how much I
> hated the inks. Even if I'm stuck to B&W, not having to constantly run
> out of ink is well worth the loss.
>
> I think the TRF is the safest way to go. It's only about 6 or 7 bucks
> a roll. If they haven't already popped in, someone in here answered a
> few questions for me a while back about it. They said it was more
> powdery, so it wasn't ideal for dual duty as a replacement for the
> green trace coating TRF, but should make good labels. Sorry I can't
> recall exactly who told me (I always appreciate the help).
>
> BTW- With the cutting, I've learned to go oversize on the initial
> boards. I usually do almost an eighth inch all around with some layout
> lines for subsequent trimming. I've had most of my trouble with
> foolishly placing thin runs near the edges. I either eat too close to
> them while trimming, or the board is of a slightly inconsistent
> thickness near the copper burrs at the edge, and doesn't take as solid
> of a transfer. It's also nice to have plenty of space around your
> mounting or standoff holes, to avoid having screws sitting on, or
> shorting anything, or not having enough board at the outside corners.

The Pulsonix software I use has a setting for the distance between tracks, 
vias etc. and board edge. If there isn't enough clearance the design rule 
checker tells me. I also deburr the edges, to make sure that the 
transparency is in contact with the resist.

Leon
--
Leon Heller, G1HSM
leon.heller@...
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "alan00463" <alan00463@y...> wrote:
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <alienrelics@y...> wrote:
...
> > Check the Transfer Solutions yahoogroup.
> > 
> > Steve Greenfield
> >
> I just searched through Yahoo! Groups with the words "transfer
> solutions" and didn't find any such group.
> I am thinking about getting the WhiteTRF paper to try.   Either that,
> or I will get an inkjet printer.   Will an inkjet printer make white?
>

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/TransferSolutions/

The only inkjet printers that do white are very expensive printers for
printing directly onto dark clothing. They start at $10,000 or higher.

Now- it may be that the white ink will work in a regular Epson piezo
head. The printers in question all use Epson piezo heads, in fact many
of the first ones were just Epson printers hacked.

What is WhiteTRF paper? ... nevermind, just googled and found it on
Pulsar's website. Nice.

BTW, regarding their TRF paper and the Blue TT paper- someone here
long ago tested heat transfer foil. The stuff that you are supposed to
apply like Pulsar's TRF, only he printed directly onto the "back" and
ironed/pressed it onto the blank PCB. I recall the verdict was that it
worked very well.

It seems similar in price to Blue TT paper, though, $1 to $2 a sheet.
However, you can shop sales for it. I got a few packs for pennies on
the dollar.

Steve Greenfield