At 02:04 AM 3/12/2009, you wrote:
>I've been pondering methods to improve/hasten/detoxify homemade
>PCBs, and had a thought occur yesterday: bead blasting. has anybody
>tried this or seen it done?
yes, i do art glass carving and have such equipment. bead blasters
will not cut materials and are used to clean motor parts, etc.
silicon carbide (sand) blasters will quickly cut brittle substrates
like glass, ceramics, etc but will only surface etch metals. it would
not cut through the copper foil, but likely would attack the fiber
board. the mask for sand carving must be very aggressive to withstand
the blast, typically plotter-cut vinyl or photosensitive resists. the
air pressure for 'pressure pot' blasting is hardly ever over 30 psi
while 'siphon' blasters use much higher pressure and air flow. also
you must use a blast chamber/dust collection system to contain the
dust or risk silicosis of the lungs. good thought, but won't hasten
and has some toxic attributes.
William Alford
GI Motility Medical Research Page
http://alford.grimtrojan.com/ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]