Greetings from the UK. I joined this group a week or so ago. So I am
new to all this. I have just used the toner method and it seems to
work fine for me. I am happy.
1] I used one of those abrasive PCB cleaner blocks to get a shiny
board, making sure not to touch it with greasy fingers afterwards.
Deburring the edges is easy, you just whack them down the edge of a
metal table to fold the copper back down. Use a file if you must.
2] Printed my images using an Apple Laserwriter 4/600. I found an
ancient Mac OS9 version of the laserwriter utility that lets a person
set the default print density on the printer. The toner cartridge was
an exchange refill, so nothing special there.
3] Used the wife's domestic iron on a hot setting. Once the paper had
started to stick down I could happily move the iron around to give an
even heat. I think the art here is to maintain intimate connection of
paper and PCB without using undue pressure on the iron to squidge the
pads and tracks. I didn't time it or anything. After a few trial
boards it worked fine for me.
I Tried several papers I had around the house. I used a paper often
used for digital prints called 'Mellotex'. This is made by Tullis
Russel. Free UK samples 0800 74 74 77. This seems to work OK, I get a
good dense black but it is a bit hairy. After a good soak in water
the hairs mostly come off. I found the black toner was so well bonded
on I could scrub the boards. I also tried a paper called Detec, also
used a lot by digital print houses, but that was no good at all. The
wife's silicon baking parchment worked wonderfully on the transfer
side of things, but didn't accept a very dense coating of toner to
start with, so I abandoned it.
I looked up that Staples glossy paper, but the UK order codes don't
seem to match the US ones. Can anyone identify the paper I should try
for me please?
<
http://www.staples.co.uk/ENG/Catalog/cat_class.asp? CatIds=1101,1287&name=UK%5FCL%5FPhoto+Paper>
4] Did a quick very minor touch-up with a Staedtler Lumocolor pen.
318 series. I read that people insist on the red pen, but I used
black and it works just fine. This I shall have to hide so that my
wife doesn't steal it for writing on freezer bags in the kitchen.
5] Into a ferric chloride bath
6] Erm, not sure my wife realises her nail varnish remover has
disappeared yet.
7] Drilled the holes with a cheap but very solid cast metal pillar
drill that takes a standard drill. This cost 5 GBP, about 8.6 US
bucks, from LIDL, a European chain store. I've been drilling .5mm
holes happily on this.
Excellent. Job done. A cheap answer to my needs. I was going to use
Press'n'Peel but I won't bother with that expense unless I want to
get down to really fine work. Is P'n'P really that great?
Whoop John