Homebrew PCBs

Yeeha!
Etched my first board today and it looks great so far! I haven't 
drilled it yet, but I'm very happy with it.

Details:
Samsung scx-4100 printer
glossy magazine paper
soapy water & kitchen scrubby wash, dry, bathroom cleaner, wash, 
dry, flash free solvent/degreaser
clothes iron at hottest setting
5-7 minutes ironing
cool
soak in warm soapy water
gently remove paper
gentle toothbrush rub
sharpie touch up
HCl and H202 etchant in plastic tofu container (outside)

I got some 1oz. CEM boards from Bill at abcfab. I can highly 
reccomend him.

When the etchant is no longer active is it safe to dispose of on the 
ground outside? I'm assuming that the copper in it will kill any 
plants, but does the acid need to be neutralized any further? Add 
some CaCO3?

Thanks,
Chester

That's great news, Chester!
I'm glad you achieved success on your first try.   I am planning to do
my first board ASAP.  I'm also planning to use muriatic acid and
hydrogen peroxide.    So your good results encourage me.   Thanks.  
Please keep us posted on the results of drilling, populating, and
testing the board.

Alan

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

From: "alan00463" <alan00463@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 2:23 PM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: first board and etchant disposal


> That's great news, Chester!
> I'm glad you achieved success on your first try.   I am planning to do
> my first board ASAP.  I'm also planning to use muriatic acid and
> hydrogen peroxide.    So your good results encourage me.   Thanks.
> Please keep us posted on the results of drilling, populating, and
> testing the board.

I had my hair cut a few days ago and asked the lady doing it how they 
purchased their H2O2. They apparently get it in cream form these days. I 
said I wanted the ordinary liquid form and she asked me (joking, of course) 
if I was into bomb-making. 8-)

Leon

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Leon Heller" 
<leon.heller@...> wrote:

> 
> I had my hair cut a few days ago and asked the lady doing it how 
they 
> purchased their H2O2. They apparently get it in cream form these 
days. I 
> said I wanted the ordinary liquid form and she asked me (joking, 
of course) 
> if I was into bomb-making. 8-)
> 
> Leon
>

Beauty supply stores sell quarts of liquid H2O2 in 20, 30, and 
40 'volume' strengths. These correspond to 6%, 9%, and 12% H2O2 
respectively.

'Sally Beauty Supply' (and probably others) sell to the general 
public. No beautician license is required to buy it there. Some 
supply stores will sell their products only to licensed 
professionals.


Regards, Bob

Did you go and ask for H2O2 in some store where the sell paints or 
chemicals? I've got mine at paint store. I use 30% HCl and 30% H2O2, 
then i add some water, but not much, so when i insert PCB i clearly 
see bubbling. In this way board is etched in a minute or so. 
Then i add a lot of water to reduce this mixture to a safe value and 
put it either into toilet or outside. I hope it's not too 
environmental damage...



--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Leon Heller" 
<leon.heller@...> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "alan00463" <alan00463@...>
> To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 2:23 PM
> Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: first board and etchant disposal
> 
> 
> > That's great news, Chester!
> > I'm glad you achieved success on your first try.   I am planning 
to do
> > my first board ASAP.  I'm also planning to use muriatic acid and
> > hydrogen peroxide.    So your good results encourage me.   
Thanks.
> > Please keep us posted on the results of drilling, populating, and
> > testing the board.
> 
> I had my hair cut a few days ago and asked the lady doing it how 
they 
> purchased their H2O2. They apparently get it in cream form these 
days. I 
> said I wanted the ordinary liquid form and she asked me (joking, 
of course) 

> if I was into bomb-making. 8-)
> 
> Leon
>

Alan,
Thanks for the encouragement!
Drilling went fine...I got the CEM boards so I wouldn't have to invest 
in a new drill press and carbide bits (maybe next trip to harbor 
frieght)so I just used my Dremel and a high speed bit and things went 
very smoothly. (This was on a layout designed by someone else. I also 
etched a board with my own layout created in Diptrace. I haven't 
finished drilling yet, but I can already see that I'll have to go back 
and increase the pad size on just about everything as some pads will 
only have the smallest of rings left once the hole is drilled.) 
Populating the board was pretty straightforward except for hunting for 
a couple caps in my junk pile. Everything works fine after I corrected 
one misplaced resistor and a solder bridge. This was a pretty simple 
transistor based audio circuit.
I used the two part H2O2 and one part HCL recipe for a total of about 
a cup of solution and was able to etch two single sided 1oz. boards of 
about 9 total square inches (one has a coppper pour and the other 
doesn't.) Not sure if there's any life left in the solution as it's 
about the color of engine coolant, but I'll give it another shot 
before I try to dispose of it.

Best of luck, Alan.
Chester

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "alan00463" <alan00463@...> 
wrote:
>
> That's great news, Chester!
> I'm glad you achieved success on your first try.   I am planning to 
do

> my first board ASAP.  I'm also planning to use muriatic acid and
> hydrogen peroxide.    So your good results encourage me.   Thanks.  
> Please keep us posted on the results of drilling, populating, and
> testing the board.
> 
> Alan
>