Homebrew PCBs

I am attempting my first toner transfer home board etch.  The transfer went better than I had expected for a first try, but there are two voids in some filled pad areas that I would like to touch up before going to the etch tank.  I know Radio Shack has a resist marker available, but I was curious if there are any other options that would save me the 10 mile round trip to the local RS?  I suppose I could strip the board and try another fresh transfer, but the rest of it looks very good, if these two spots could be touched up.  Is touch-up a viable option, or a bad idea?

Nels



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 17:48:33 +0100, DB Express <dbxprss@...> wrote:

> I am attempting my first toner transfer home board etch.  The transfer  
> went better than I had expected for a first try, but there are two voids  
> in some filled pad areas that I would like to touch up before going to  
> the etch tank.  I know Radio Shack has a resist marker available, but I  
> was curious if there are any other options that would save me the 10  
> mile round trip to the local RS?  I suppose I could strip the board and  
> try another fresh transfer, but the rest of it looks very good, if these  
> two spots could be touched up.  Is touch-up a viable option, or a bad  
> idea?
> Nels


Generally it's a bad idea since it's lotsa work and not much holds up well  
as etch resist. But if the faults are minimal it is an option.

You can try any type of laquer (i expect nail polish would work too). If  
the areas are large enough you could stick pieces of tape over them.

Many permanent markers will not hold up all that well, laquer generally  
gives better results.

You can also use solder flux (resin type, "colophony" solved in solvent).  
Works great as resist as long as it's not thinned too much, and will aid  
in soldering. I always have a glass of it around for soldering. You can  
also coat PCBs with this for protection after etching, but i am lazy so i  
use a spray can of the stuff.

ST

ask your wife, sister, mother, daughter, neighbor (may be a good excuse to
visit her)......
they have something fantastic called 'nail polish'
color doesn't matter, it's going to be removed anyway   :))


--- DB Express <dbxprss@...> wrote:

> I am attempting my first toner transfer home board etch.  The transfer went
> better than I had expected for a first try, but there are two voids in some
> filled pad areas that I would like to touch up before going to the etch tank.
>  I know Radio Shack has a resist marker available, but I was curious if there
> are any other options that would save me the 10 mile round trip to the local
> RS?  I suppose I could strip the board and try another fresh transfer, but
> the rest of it looks very good, if these two spots could be touched up.  Is
> touch-up a viable option, or a bad idea?
> 
>

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com

At 11:48 AM 1/9/2007, you wrote:
>I am attempting my first toner transfer home board etch.  The 
>transfer went better than I had expected for a first try, but there 
>are two voids in some filled pad areas that I would like to touch up 
>before going to the etch tank.  I know Radio Shack has a resist 
>marker available, but I was curious if there are any other options 
>that would save me the 10 mile round trip to the local RS?  I 
>suppose I could strip the board and try another fresh transfer, but 
>the rest of it looks very good, if these two spots could be touched 
>up.  Is touch-up a viable option, or a bad idea?
>
>Nels
>


I find a regular "Sharpie" pen works just fine for touch ups.





carl

--------------------------------------------------------
Henry Carl Ott   N2RVQ
http://users.rcn.com/carlott/
--------------------------------------------------------

Hello Nels,

I've had reasonable results using a Sharpie Permanent Marker to fill 
in toner transfer voids.  They can be obtained at just about any 
store including larger grocery stores.  I've found them with a fine 
tip at one end and a "ultra fine" tip at the other.  Makes it nice to 
have both tips on a single pen.

Sometimes when a quick board with a small amount of components for a 
home project is need, I just draw it on the PCB with the 
pen.  Electrons don't care if the lines have size variation, etc.

At 11:48 AM 1/9/2007, you wrote:
>I am attempting my first toner transfer home board etch.  The 
>transfer went better than I had expected for a first try, but there 
>are two voids in some filled pad areas that I would like to touch up 
>before going to the etch tank.  I know Radio Shack has a resist 
>marker available, but I was curious if there are any other options 
>that would save me the 10 mile round trip to the local RS?  I 
>suppose I could strip the board and try another fresh transfer, but 
>the rest of it looks very good, if these two spots could be touched 
>up.  Is touch-up a viable option, or a bad idea?
>
>Nels
>
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
>http://mail.yahoo.com
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
>
>If Files or Photos are running short of space, post them here:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs_Archives/
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

         73,
         Mike, K4GMH 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Thanks for the replies.  I have several sharpies in my desk drawer.  Unfortunately, since my last post, I noticed another issue.  I don't have a laser printer here at home, so I printed the layout to a file and loaded it to my jump drive for a remote print.  I discovered that the resulting printout from the file shrunk the layout a bit.  The mounting holes no longer line up, and everything is squeezed together accordingly.  It wasn't immediately apparent due to the small difference, but when compared side by side with a printout from my home printer through the PCB software, it seems to have shrunk maybe 5% or so.  Looks like I will have to try the transfer again, printing it out on my printer on some good paper, then borrow a copy machine to make the transfer.

Nels

----- Original Message ----
From: Mike <k4gmh@...>
To: Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 9, 2007 5:24:57 PM
Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Toner transfer touch-up?


Hello Nels,

I've had reasonable results using a Sharpie Permanent Marker to fill 
in toner transfer voids.  They can be obtained at just about any 
store including larger grocery stores.  I've found them with a fine 
tip at one end and a "ultra fine" tip at the other.  Makes it nice to 
have both tips on a single pen.

Sometimes when a quick board with a small amount of components for a 
home project is need, I just draw it on the PCB with the 
pen.  Electrons don't care if the lines have size variation, etc.

At 11:48 AM 1/9/2007, you wrote:
>I am attempting my first toner transfer home board etch.  The 
>transfer went better than I had expected for a first try, but there 
>are two voids in some filled pad areas that I would like to touch up 
>before going to the etch tank.  I know Radio Shack has a resist 
>marker available, but I was curious if there are any other options 
>that would save me the 10 mile round trip to the local RS?  I 
>suppose I could strip the board and try another fresh transfer, but 
>the rest of it looks very good, if these two spots could be touched 
>up.  Is touch-up a viable option, or a bad idea?
>
>Nels
>
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
>http://mail.yahoo.com
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
>
>If Files or Photos are running short of space, post them here:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs_Archives/
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

         73,
         Mike, K4GMH 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs

If Files or Photos are running short of space, post them here:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs_Archives/ 
Yahoo! Groups Links



__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, DB Express <dbxprss@...> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the replies.  I have several sharpies in my desk drawer.
 Unfortunately, since my last post, I noticed another issue.  I don't
have a laser printer here at home, so I printed the layout to a file
and loaded it to my jump drive for a remote print.  I discovered that
the resulting printout from the file shrunk the layout a bit.  The
mounting holes no longer line up, and everything is squeezed together
accordingly.  It wasn't immediately apparent due to the small
difference, but when compared side by side with a printout from my
home printer through the PCB software, it seems to have shrunk maybe
5% or so.  Looks like I will have to try the transfer again, printing
it out on my printer on some good paper, then borrow a copy machine to
make the transfer.
> 
> Nels

if you know the printer at the other end, you can save the file in a
print format that can be copied to the printer.  kind of like printing
to your memory stick as a print buffer, taking it to the other machine
and then finisheing the job.

As for Sharpies, dab, don't draw.  a dab leaves more ink, drawing
scrapes some away.

For the quick fix, you can use the sharpie on the shrunken image to
expand the pads.

Dave

---------------------------------------
Thanks for the replies. I have several sharpies in my desk drawer. 
Unfortunately, since my last post, I noticed another issue. I don't have 
a laser printer here at home, so I printed the layout to a file and 
loaded it to my jump drive for a remote print. I discovered that the 
resulting printout from the file shrunk the layout a bit. The mounting 
holes no longer line up, and everything is squeezed together 
accordingly. It wasn't immediately apparent due to the small difference, 
but when compared side by side with a printout from my home printer 
through the PCB software, it seems to have shrunk maybe 5% or so. Looks 
like I will have to try the transfer again, printing it out on my 
printer on some good paper, then borrow a copy machine to make the transfer.

Nels
-------------------------------------

you could print to pdf. Under windows pdfcreator is a great solution.
http://www.pdfforge.org/
Then when printing from acrobat reader remember to print  with no page 
shrink (usually the printer borders are different. so you could have 
this out of scale effect, unless you select the right option). This 
should work.

Massimo

On 10/01/07, Massimo De Marchi <maui@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  ---------------------------------------
>  Thanks for the replies. I have several sharpies in my desk drawer.

have a look here about pens

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/tinabriddon/pens/

Lez