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

----- Original Message -----
From: "DJ Delorie" <dj@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 4:46 PM
Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Newbie questions


>
> Russell Shaw <rjshaw@...> writes:
>> > Are the chemicals rather tame these days too?
>>
>> Dilute Na2CO3 (from pool shop), and dilute NaOH.
>
> But are they tame? I mean, do they outgas during use, do I need vent
> fans, special cleanup rules, etc? FeCl is messy, but not "dangerous"
> that way, and it doesn't go bad if I don't use it for a while.

No, they don't generate any gas. Keep it away from your eyes and don't get
it on your skin. Oven cleaner is mostly NaOH, and it's used in dishwasher
tablets.

>
>> > I wouldn't mind trying out photoetch, but I'm not a big fan of
>> > having lots of chemicals in the house.
>>
>> Then stop eating and cleaning;)
>
> :-)
>
> That reminds me, I still have some sulfuric acid kicking around from
> many years ago. Is that at all useful in pcb making?

Not really. HCl can be useful for etching.

Leon