Thanks for the review, I just ordered some to try. It's less than
Pulsar and Technics, I can afford cough cough [:((] $1.00 per sheet
vs $1.50 a sheet for the others.
For the "harder" boards I'll use this but mostly I use the 80lb paper @
work and just do the old fashion tonner transfer method.
CW
-- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, David McNab <rebirth@...> wrote:
>
> Overview:
>
> Review of a water-soluble printer-compatible paper for use in
> toner transfer based PCB creation
>
> Product:
>
> WashAway Foundation Paper
>
> Manufacturer/Distributor:
>
> W.H. Collins, Inc - www.dritz.com
>
> Bought Online From:
>
>
http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/fivesistersquiltshop/Detail?no=563 >
> Price:
>
> USD $8.95 for pack of 10 letter-size sheets
>
> Review:
>
> After seeing mention of this paper product on this mailing list,
> I decided to give it a try.
>
> My online order to www.fivesistersquiltshop.com was processed
> very quickly, and the product arrived promptly - especially
> considering it was shipped from the USA to New Zealand.
>
> I printed out a small (45mm x 30mm) PCB artwork onto a pilot
> sheet, then cut a strip of the WashAway paper, placing it on top
> of the artwork on the pilot sheet with sticky tape on the
> leading edge - the same technique used by myself and some others
> when using glossy inkjet card.
>
> The artwork printed faultlessly onto the WashAway paper using my
> HP Color Laserjet 2550L.
>
> After four passes through the laminator, the toner adhered very
> firmly to the copper on the board. (In retrospect, I should have
> given it 6-8 passes - see below).
>
> With previous boards at this point, I had needed to soak the
> board+card, peel off gently, then rub with fingers, worrying
> about damaging fine traces. This step, which took up to 15
> minutes, was always a risky and unenjoyable point of the
> procedure.
>
> But this time, with the WashAway paper, I just put the board
> under running water, and the paper disappeared completely within
> 5 seconds. No need to rub, and no need to risk damaging toner
> deposits. All that remained was jet black toner, with good
> quality artwork reproduction.
>
> Following this, I etched the board in FeCl as normal, and ended
> up with a near-faultless board. The only fault was a small break
> in one trace, which proved quick and easy to solder-bridge. I
> would like to try more boards, with more passes through the
> laminator - 6-8 instead of 4, and suspect this will give me a
> zero-defect board.
>
> Verdict:
>
> On the positive side, the price is way less than press-n-peel,
> and comparable with gloss card stock. This paper saves up to 15
> minutes in the board creation process, and eliminates a
> significant source of defects.
>
> On the negative side, there was minor distortion in the artwork
> on the finished board, comparable to that which happens when
> using thin glossy 'time magazine' paper (which is why I've
> tended to use gloss card stock).
>
> It's possible that if I put a sheet of thin gloss card over the
> WashAway paper when feeding into the laminator, this distortion
> could be reduced or eliminated. I'm using PDIP and other
> through-hole components - the minor distortion was no major
> problem, but if I'd been using fine SMD traces, it could have
> given me much trouble and forced me to revert to glossy inkjet
> card.
>
> However, I'm happy with the overall result, and grateful for the
> time and labour it saves. I'll be leaning towards use of this
> paper from now on, especially for simpler boards, and hope the
> retailer keeps up their stock.
>
> Conclusion:
>
> I give this product 4 out of 5 stars.
>
> Definitely worth a try, and well worth having in one's home PCB
> manufacture toolkit.
>
> For myself, I'll experiment with the thermal transfer stage and
> see if I can reduce artwork distortion. Maybe others on this
> list might like to do similar and share their results.
>
> --------------
>
> Cheers
> David
>
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