That stuff, as I understand it, is simple wax paper.
I tried iron-on T-shirt transfer paper, which appears to be very similar,
and didn't require any soaking to remove, but found it very difficult to
align because it never sticks to the board.
Then again, I've improved many other parts of the process since giving up on
wax paper, so it might be worth a revisit.
-Andrew
On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 6:40 PM, bownes <bownes@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> First off, thanks for the followup after soliciting advice. It's a big help
> to those who come later!
>
> I've had similar issues with transfer methods no matter what I used for a
> transfer medium, be it paper, magazine paper, photo paper, press&peel blue,
> etc. The best luck I've had for boards that didn't require sub 0.02" pitch
> was the paper used for peel off mailing labels after the labels have been
> peeled off.
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com <Homebrew_PCBs%40yahoogroups.com>,
> Andrew Villeneuve <andrewmv@...> wrote:
> >
> > With a lot of help from this list and a lot of experimentation, I'm
> having
> > much better success with my toner transfers. The process that finally
> ended
> > up working for me for creating my first usable double-sided board went
> like
> > this:
> >
> > 1) Discard overused boards. It's true you can transfer toner onto a board
> > and then clean it back off and try again if it doesn't come out the first
> > time. I had diminishing returns after my seventh or eighth try, and found
> > it better to stop trying to salvage the board.
> >
> > 2) Line up the both sides of the board. I held the two sheets of magazine
> > paper up to a worklight to line everything up, and then taped them
> together
> > on one side with ordinary Scotch tape.
> >
> > 3) Clean board blank with acetone, scour with Scotchbrite pad, clean with
> > dish-soap and hot water.
> >
> > 4) Pre-heat board to about 200F.
> >
> > 5) Place the board between the taped-together patterns, using the
> taped-edge
> > as a guide.
> >
> > 6) Provide 1-minutes of constant pressure with the iron, then about
> > 5-minutes of moving pressure.
> >
> > 7) Flip the board and repeat.
> >
> > 8) Drop the still-hot board immediately into hot water for 10-minutes.
> >
> > 9) Remove paper. Touch up any broken traces with a sharpie (industrial
> > permanent ink, micro-fine point). Break any shorted traces with an x-acto
> > knife.
> >
> > 10) To ensure that both surfaces of the board get evenly etched, I put
> small
> > squares of foam mounting tape in inconspicuous corners of the bottom of
> my
> > board. I use the 3M kind - this stuff's about 3-4mm thick, which gives
> > enough clearance from the bottom of the tank. I left the paper on one
> side
> > so it wouldn't stick to the tank.
> >
> > 11) I submerged the board in FeCl in a simple closeable plastic
> container.
> > I held it over the stovetop on medium heat and hand-agitated the tank...I
> > didn't measure the temperature here, but it was just cool enough to be
> able
> > to easily hold the tank without gloves.
> >
> > I checked the progress of the etching intermittently, and found it barely
> > took 5 minutes to get complete removal of unwanted copper without any
> > etching into my traces. I dunked the board in cool water in a separate
> > plastic container to stop the etching, and now have a nice looking,
> > perfectly aligned double-sided board ready for drilling.
> >
> > -Andrew
> >
> > On Sun, Apr 18, 2010 at 7:03 PM, andrewmv@... <andrewmv@...>wrote:
>
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > I've just started attempting my first PCBs with the toner transfer
> method,
> > > and I'm consistently getting terrible results.
> > >
> > > Some sections of the pattern transfer flawlessly to the board, while
> others
> > > stay on the paper. I've tried varying heat, pressure, and ironing time,
> but
> > > my results are always similar.
> > >
> > > It never seems to be the same parts of the pattern that come though,
> but I
> > > never get the whole thing.
> > >
> > > My current process is:
> > >
> > > 1) Print the patterns in black toner on medium-gloss photo paper with a
> > > Dell 5310n laser printer at my office.
> > > 2) Scour the board blank in two orthogonal directions with 150 grit
> > > sandpaper
> > > 3) Clean the board blank with pure acetone
> > > 4) Preheat the board to about 150 degrees Fahrenheit with an electric
> > > clothes iron. I'm measuring with a handheld infrared HVAC thermometer.
> > > 5) With the iron at about 400 degrees, I place the pattern toner-side
> down
> > > on the board, and apply pressure with the iron. The pattern almost
> > > immediately fuses to the copper, as I've seen suggested it should, and
> I
> > > move the iron around the pattern regularly, applying a least two full
> > > minutes of heat and pressure to every part of the board.
> > > 6) I immediately place the board and paper into a bowl of hot water,
> and
> > > let it soak for 10-20 minutes.
> > >
> > > I've tried variations on this...I initially skipped the scouring,
> cleaning,
> > > or preheating the board. I've tried using mild pressure all the way up
> to my
> > > full body weight. None of these significantly improved or worsened
> results.
> > >
> > > I tried letting the board fully cool before placing it into COLD water,
> as
> > > I've seen suggested, and found that there was virtually no toner
> transfer
> > > whatsoever.
> > >
> > > Any tips or ideas?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]