Having etched a whole 3 PCBs, I'm just wondering if anyone else has
thought of/tried these/just wants to comment on:
∗ I've been experimenting with good old vinegar and salt as my copper
cleaner - removes copper oxide like nothing else. Wont work on greasy
smears, but I don't have many of them.
∗ pressure seems to be more important than time with the iron: I heat
the whole thing up with the flat part, but then "walk" the edge of the
iron up/down and left/right.
∗ A friend suggested NOT removing the toner from anywhere you're not
going to solder as a ready-made solder-resist. It's not pretty, but it
does exactly that.
∗ I'm using Ammonium perchlorate, as it's all I can get. I heat it up
in a small takeaway container the microwave till it bubbles, take it
outside and put the board in, and nudge that around with a plastic
spoon. Works like a treat and I'm still using my first batch.
∗ Getting good results with Ancient HP 5MP and some swiss-made gloss
paper that the local überdiscount Aldi was selling (here in
Australia). Using EAGLE - I love it. ALL software should be free for
noncommerical use!!
∗ Have any of the muriatic acid folks tried just using plain paper
and throwing the whole lot in the bath? Seems to me if it could eat
through the paper this would be much simpler and possibly give better
results (no left-over top gloss plastic sheet joining traces).
∗ Guy at my local electronics shop mentioned batchpcb.com
<
http://www.batchpcb.com> . I haven't seen them mentioned here (or
actually used them), but they're wayy cheaper than anyone mentioned in
the prototypers list and very polite - any experiences? (I know, you're
here to make your own boards, why would you care?)
∗ The TT method makes it so easy to make fine PCBs that drilling and
soldering are very challenging - seems to me someone needs to find a way
to repurpose some other household digital thingies to tackle those jobs!
That's all from me!
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