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

There's an old saying, "Everything old is new again!" It fun to watch
the new members 'rediscover' old techniques like using the laser label
backing paper.

There was a long thread about silicone treated papers a while back. I
think I was one of the early "reinventors" of the process. ;)

Laser label backing paper has just the right amount of silicone to
temporarily grab the toner. The main problem that I found was that the
adhesion was very fragile and can be easily damaged while handling.

Toner Transfer is a great method, but is a little fussy and has to be
fine tuned for your equipment. For my boards, I use a thin clay coated
paper, actually the SEARS flyer from the sunday paper. A thinner paper
needs less heat (paper is a good insulator) and wets out very easy.
Then I add a little automatic dishwashing detergent to the soaking
bath, the alkalinity and surfactants help loosen the paper. Finally,
after removing the paper, I "flash fuse" the toner with a hair dryer.
This helps make a more continuous film and locks the toner to the
copper. (The Pulsar green film dones the same thing.)

Myc