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Circuit Board Construction Question

Mar 23rd 2012, 13:10

WB1GCM

Super Moderator

Joined: Apr 4th 1998, 00:00
Total Topics: 0
Total Posts: 0
One of our members has asked the following questions, please chime in if you know the answers:

"I've been reading and reading about laser copy toner transfer to a blank PC board as etch resist. The types of paper listed in the 2010 ARRL handbook are no longer available, and various forums have old information on suitable paper but tales of woe about changes to paper formulations and problems removing the paper or damage to copier due to coatings. The reference in ARRLs web site search results is a couple of years old, so suspicious.

Do you know of a currently available type of paper that will run safely in a laser printer?

I've tried transferring by just soaking regular paper with acetone while it's pressed to the board, and I get a thin image. Do you know any details about what paper might work best for this method (versus using a hot iron)?

I'll be using this with surface mount parts, so the spacing is pretty tight and resist repair with a pen might be prohibitive."

Bob Allison
WB1GCM
ARRL Test Engineer


Mar 28th 2012, 15:07

WA0CBW

Joined: Apr 4th 1998, 00:00
Total Topics: 0
Total Posts: 0
Have you tried Pulsar fx paper? They sell paper specifically designed for making printed circuit boards. Try pcfx.com. I have used their products and have had excellent results. I use an HP laser printer and a GC laminator (instead of the iron) and get excellent results. Frank will go out of his way to help you succeed.

Bill - WA0CBW
Jul 15th 2013, 18:00

KI0BK

Joined: Apr 4th 1998, 00:00
Total Topics: 0
Total Posts: 0
Why mess with etching your own boards, the results are disappointing at best, when you can get nice boards made with silkscreen and solder mask using free design software from places like expresspcb.com in less then a week.
Jim Cordill
KI0BK
Sep 15th 2013, 01:43

N1JPL

Joined: Jul 30th 2013, 15:57
Total Topics: 0
Total Posts: 0
Bob,
There is a Yahoo group that has done a great deal of experiments on what you're trying to accomplish.
Join the group and dig into the email archive.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
Good luck,
Jean-Paul
AC9GH

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