Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

I just looked up my email here. The solid beige stuff I bought is
supposedly CEM1 @.047. The double-sided I was just trying to print on
is the FR4 and it's .093 (yikes!). Either one seems rigid enough for
what I'm doing though and everything will likely be supported on
standoffs or something, especially stuff with controls.

I don't believe either of these has taken toner well, but I can
probably find a working combo for printing the tops of the flatter
single-sided etches. I'm looking at a CAT5 tester on that beige stuff
I built here, which I printed a bunch of junk on and everything stuck
but one letter. However, that was with Staples paper, so it has that
nasty gray film on it. I coated it with a spray to darken it some, but
it's still gray. Wetting that residue makes it a bit better looking,
but then it dries out. I wonder if there's a paint, etc. that would
keep it black? Weird thing is, transfers tend to fuse into the PCB
material unlike the copper, so even the ones that didn't take have a
leftover ghost if you try to wipe them off.

Sanding or leveling the top with something seems like it may help. A
lot of mine has that "cloth" texture which probably doesn't encourage
a good transfer. I don't know if sanding would just bring up more
cloth though.

Anyone struggling with it may try a light spray before the toner goes
on. Krylon "crystal clear" acrylic made a world of difference on
aluminum with the JetPrint paper. It may even take less heat and
heating time, as it sort of fuses into and "grabs" the toner.

To anyone here-

Other than the obvious strength and copper thickness or quality
factors, what exactly should be our concerns with the different types
of PCB substrate? I'm not in danger of excessive heat either, but I
don't think I would care for any "warping", etc.

-George