Hi John, sounds like our processes are very similar! I have been
trying different papers around the house and office and most seem to
work. Don't use my wifes nail polish remover though, I use
the "Manly" version called acetone :-)
I haven't tried the staples paper yet myself, but will sooner or
later.
As for press-n-peel, I have no idea as I have never used it.
However, I have seen some of the stuff at the local radio shack and
most of it looks wider than the .010" I am getting using toner
transfer. Don't know anything more about it other than a quick
glance of the "stickers" hanging on the wall there.
The most recent toner transfer lesson I have learned (or am
learning) is that not all PCB material is the same. I have tried
about 3 different brands/types of pcb material and all worked
fantastic. Then I bought some from a different company and
everything started getting really bad for the toner transfer. I
tried sanding, buffing with 1000 grit, scrubbing with scotch bright
pads, cleaning with every solvent in sight and nothing worked. The
final solution - a pre-soak in Ferric Chloride for a few minutes,
then a good cleaning etc. Worked good on the last two circuit boards
I etched.
It's a neat process and kind of fun too!
Chris
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, whoop@b... wrote:
>
> 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
>