[sdiy] Help with iron-on PCB art

[synth at charlielamm.com]

> One, how friggin' long do you iron?  When you do, and portions of traces
> don't make it and don't transfer, is this a sign of what?  Too hot?  not
> enough ironing, not enough pressure? Or to much of all?  Or is this an
> indication of old iron on material?  I can only get this material one
place
> locally - is it possible it's just old and dried up or something?
>

I usually iron for about 5-10mins.  You get a feel for what xfers and what
doesn't after making a few boards.  Pressure doesn't seem to matter that
much.  Temperature varies depending on the iron you use, for me, using a
junky iron my wife was going to throw away, the setting right under
"steam" seems to work best.

When my xfers don't work, it was usually due to the copper board not being
clean enough, and not the heat/iron process.  Make sure to clean the
copper clad board off using brillo (really rub the hell out of it, for
several minutes) and then clean the brillo soap and fibers off using
something like rubbing alcohol.  Make sure to wear gloves handling the
"clean" board, as the oil from your hands will keep the traces from
sticking as well.

> The major problem I have with this is I was making a double sided board,
and
> after it was etched, I held it up to the light and the front/back
> registration was spot on, which I considered the hard part.  SUCH a drag
> that the other processes failed on me!

I have never gotten double sided to work worth a damn using PnPeel.  I'd
outsource this to someone like Alberta Printed Circuits, IMO....it's worth
the extra money, and their prices for small quanitites are very
reaonsable.


On Sun, 9 Nov 2003, Peter Grenader wrote:

> People,
>
> I'm having a dickens of a time right now trying to make a simple (well,
> maybe not all that simple) PCB in my kitchen using the iron on method.
>
> I've done it before, and while I've never been real secure as to when is
> enough for all of the processes, I've never had the problems I saw this
> morning.
>
> One, how friggin' long do you iron?  When you do, and portions of traces
> don't make it and don't transfer, is this a sign of what?  Too hot?  not
> enough ironing, not enough pressure? Or to much of all?  Or is this an
> indication of old iron on material?  I can only get this material one place
> locally - is it possible it's just old and dried up or something?
>
> Then the weirdest thing happen when I etched.  Everything looked great, the
> trace widths are not that small, so that's ok, and when I rinsed off the
> iron-on etch resist, there was nothing underneath - no copper.  I only
> etched for about 10 minutes, slightly heated.  THe exact same duration I've
> always done, yet I've never had this problem.
>
> Any help in the balance of the solution vs. heat vs. time vs amount of
> solution would be greatly appreciated.
>
> The major problem I have with this is I was making a double sided board, and
> after it was etched, I held it up to the light and the front/back
> registration was spot on, which I considered the hard part.  SUCH a drag
> that the other processes failed on me!
>
> OK, I'm off to Frye's for some <more double sided copper clad and yet
another
> bottle of Ferrite Chlor.  It would be swell to have some answers to these
> ponderances when I get back.
>
> Sorry if I seem a bit miffed right now - it's just really a cluster to go
> threw this.
>
> thanks in advance -
>
> Peter
>