On Tue, 24 Feb 2004 07:45:30 -0000, gmanca101 <gmanca101@...> wrote:
> Well, having first used an HP 7445A Plotter and then switching to the
> TT method, I noticed the ease in making a pcb with the TT method
> especially with double sided boards. So I purchased a broken GBC 95P
> laminator off of EBay for $20 dollars. I casted new gears and
> installed a new thermal cut-off device and I had a functioning
> laminator.
>
> From my previous use of a clothing iron, i was using JetPrint Graphic
> paper that was great because 98% of the traces were intact. However,
> using this paper in my laminator was a bad idea because the heat from
> the laminator was not enough to penetrate the paper. So in desperation
> (and a stroke of ingenuity), I used a regular ol' sheet of paper and
> the image was perfectly transfered. I think the reason why magazine
> paper like "Time" gives good results is that it is glossy yet thin.
>
> On a side note, I wonder what the fesiabilty is in constructing a
> roll tinning machine similar to what Dave Hopkins described in a
> previous post. Specifically, would it be worth it compared to
> purchasing tinnit?
>
I think you are very right with that.
the fuser only contacts a stripe at a time, the iron holds a big area hot.
you need to pass it much more often, and maybe even slower (to allow
heatup of the area).
then i think also the thick paper would work.
i have relatively thick paper myself, next time i will buy the lightest
with that coating.
I thought about the tinning machine too.
the size described it way too big for me.
i wondered if i couldn't make something hand-held, like a paint roller.
maybe a pieco of pipe, on bearings, heated by nicrome wire in it (with
cement filled).
or maybe even only heated by the hor air gun.
I made the following experiment:
piece of copper sheet, bent the one half round (radius about 5cm) the
other half was
cut in from the sides 1/3 of the width and then bent round,
(so you get 2 "pipes" 90 degree to each other).
then i have put the one pipe on the hot air gun, which heated the front
pipe (the bend was not completed
so the air can get into it.
Then i put solder on the front pipe.
i painted the pcb with colophony, and dragged the hot assembly over it.
Result:
Not very good.
Just dragging is not good i think, the rolling motion is really needed.
I think if one maybe takes a pipe and puts a strong handle on it (really
just like a paint roller)
and then you place the pcb on a flat, or even maybe slightly soft surface
then you can apply
much more pressure and it would work.
I also thought about keeping the roll tinned.
maybe a "brush" of litz wire on the top would do the trick.
if you always maintain a certain amount of solder in this brush it would
keep the roll tinned, or not?
Any thoughts welcome (but the construction of this machine is somewhere in
very far away future..)
ST