Myc,
I just did another one using a flyer from the paper. This time I
tested it for smudgability with my finger, and sure enough, they used
the vegetable-based ink on that one. It' currently soaking in the
sink, but I pulled up a corner, and I did get a transfer.
I'll have to try the flash technique. I could actually use my Harbor
Freight shrink tubing/paint removal gun, which is good for up to 650
degrees F. Nah, I'd probably burn my fingers.
I tried my mother-in-law's tabletop Canon copier on a Press N Peel
blue board, and I just ironed it on...disappointing...I used too much
heat and pressure. The image (3 x 4 inches) is skewed, and the pads
are smeared in some places. It's a double-sided board with a 40-pin
IC socket on it, so it's probably unuseable. Obviously, my 341 degree
iron setting and pretty heavy pressure is needed only for the Brother
images, not for copier toner. I've had that problem occasionally with
other P n P boards on big copiers, so the little Canon seems to be
about in the same range as to fuser temperature and toner ingredients.
I'm intrigued by your results with the muriatic acid. The ferric
chloride method typically takes me 20 minutes or so. I'll look in the
archives and get the exact percentages of muriatic acid. I'm not sure
the stuff you buy for swimming pool cleaning, etc, is 100 %. I think
Home Depot carries it as well, for cleaning garage floors prior to
painting the concrete.
I just happen to have a bottle of Future floor wax handy. I use it to
apply decals to the panels of some of my stuff I build. Using the
Testors decal paper, you can still see the edges of the cuts, but the
decals will not lift off or even curl at the edges. So you can solder
right through the stuff, eh? Have to try that.
Regards,
Ted
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Mycroft2152 <mycroft2152@...> wrote:
>
> I just ran up a few boards last weekend. I've had a
> great success with the Staples inkjet paper, but based
> on the recent discussions, and the fact I had some
> extra time, I decided to try a few other papers and
> techniques.
>
> I am using a Samsung ML-2010 with third party refill
> toner and a Xerox laminator.
>
> Paper: the best and most amazing result was with the
> paper from the SEARS flyer in the sunday paper! Great
> transfer and almsot fell off under hot water.
>
> Fusing the toner: after removing the paper and before
> etching, I flash fused the toner using a hair dryer. I
> flash fused half of a test board. The flash fused
> portion has excellent 0.006" traces, where the
> "normal" 0.006" traces were very crappy and had gaps.
>
> Etching: I used a Muriatic Acid / H2O2 etch. 3 parts
> water, 2 parts Muriatic Acid and 1 part 40 volume
> H2O2. It gave a etching time of about 3 minutes. A
> little quick, next time I'll reduce the H2O2 a bit.
>
> "Tinning": Well not actually "tinning" per say more
> like protecting the traces from oxidation. I had read
> about using Future floor wax as a resist. And yes it
> does work. This time I wiped a thin coat on the trace
> side after etching and let it dry. Soldering was no
> problem.
>
> Just a few more tweaks to the Toner Tranfer process.
>
> Myc
---snip---