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

I just made my first (single sided) board using my modified laser
printer that deposits toner directly on the board. A few observations
and questions:

1- I used the Eagle Demo2 board, but inserted four 2 mil traces
between 2 of the dip pads, each connecting to one of 4 adjacent pads.
These are 2 mil traces on 10 mil centers, with the traces on the
sides being 7.5 mils from the pads.

2 - I used some of Dave's gel on the 1/32 inch thick board - will try
without it later.

3 - I then ran the board through a laminator once - no carrier.

4- I etched using muriatic acid / peroxide, room temperature, a
little agitation by hand rocking the board.

The board came out okay, but there is some pitting that I am not
happy with. All four 2 mil traces are intact, none of them are
shorted. Questions:

1 - Should I have run the board through the laminator more than
once? I bought the laminator at Staples, no model number on the box,
but I believe it is one of those recommended on the laminator link.
I'll have to measure the temperature sometime. Any other thoughts re
the laminator?

2 - Would I be better off using an oven or hotplate to fuse the
toner? I can control the temperature quite well, but will the toner
fuse well without the pressure?

3 - What causes the pitting? Too long in the etchant? Toner not
completely fused? All the traces and pads seem equally pitted, so I
don't think it's the trace width.

Lots of questions, but I realize that I am on somewhat uncharted
territory here. It's going to take time and experimentation to work
it all out, but I'm excited by the possibilities of this technique.

Mark