Myc
That's good information. Colored toner is expensive but you can buy
single bottles of refill toner. Still may exceed some budgets.
I Googled for information, prompted by your remarks, and soon spotted
a preferable route when selecting a powder. Electrostatic powders come
in two varieties ThermoPlastic and ThermoSetting. Laser Printer toner
must be ThermoPlastic otherwise the "Toner Transfer" method would not
work. It will re-melt on reheating whereas the second will not as it
undergoes a molecular change during heating and curing. As board
soldering takes place after the silk screening the writing will likely
survive better if the Thermosetting powder is used. The sources you
list may not make it clear what type is on offer but a simple reheat
test should reveal the answer.
As these powders melt between 160 and 210 degrees C they will all be
in the melt range in a SMD oven cycle so the ThermoPlastic will reflow
also. This may not be an issue but I feel that the more stable
ThermoSetting powder would be better especially when using a soldering
iron or heatgun, that may disturb the toner/ES powder writing. (ugly).
For use as an etch resist the opposite is true. I suspect it would be
best to use the ThermoPlastic variety as it should be easier to remove.
(To quote Wikipedia) "Methylene Chloride is generally effective at
removing powder coating, however most other organic solvents (Acetone,
thinners, etc.) are completely ineffective."
As Acetone takes off laser Printer toner easily the thermo plastic
being referred to could well be of another type. Something to be
discovered.
Plenty to go on with
Warren
"Myc Holmes" wrote:
>
> Warren,
> Colored toner tends to be very expensive, especially when you have
to buy
> all 4 colors at once.
>
> SEARS has small packets of an electrostatic paint powder that works
very
> well. It comes in many colors. I have used the green for solder mask.
>
> There are other ES paint powders, guys who make their own fishing
lures use
> some very bright colors (even white). BASS sports hops has small
bottles for
> around $6.
>
> The craft stores have "embossing" powder that may work, but I
haven;t tried
> it yet.
>
> I have been using a MARVY hot air embossing tool to fuse my toner dusted
> pcbs. You can see the toner turn shiny and fuse.
>
> Myc