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

Ben, thanks for your recommendation. The dremel tool will be my next
big investment for this project, so I want to make the right choice.
You've helped me, and I appreciate it.

Kenny, thanks for your feedback. It's good to know someone else uses
Eagle. I started Eagle's online tutorial last winter, but never
printed a board. So I will probably have to relearn everything.
This time, I am getting all the tools & chemicals first, so I can
rapidly turn the CAD circuit into a real PCB that I can populate with
real components and test.

It is imperative that I succeed on the first attempt, by at least some
measure. By success, I mean (1) make a circuit that actually works
and (2) learn from my mistakes--or rather, learn what needs to be
improved--both in the etching and in the silkscreen processes. And
this is a complicated enough set of processes for a newbie like me
that your advice will help me to succeed the first time. So I'm
making a very simple circuit that I already prototyped on a breadboard.

As soon as I buy or order the last tool/chemical, then I will sit down
and relearn Eagle. (I only have a few things left to get: dremel
tool, dremel tool drill press, etching chemicals, and either Tinnit or
silver powder to keep the copper from oxidizing.)

Okay, so now I understand the "silkscreen" layer is printed in black
toner on the laser printer and then transfered onto the etched board
the same way you do for the copper anti-etching. Now, I recall from
the pictures that the board is light colored once the copper is etched
off. So what do you apply to the bare fiberglass board to make the
silkscreen layer, once you have applied the toner with the silkscreen
pattern? paint? dye? Does Eagle make the silkscreen layer too?

So far, I have gotten to December 2003 in reading the topics in this
discussion group. So I apologize if these questions have already
been answered.

Thanks,
Alan