I've been working on videos, which spell it all out.
I use the mechanical etch,through hole plate, dry film solder mask method. I'm doing 8 mil traces with 6 mil clearances pretty consistently. If I work hard I can get the clearnaces down to 4 mil,
but thats an exception.
I'm working to document everything here.
http://www.voodooengineering.comIts a work in progress but I try to add a page every week.
But also in the end, it would have been cheaper for me to outsource all my boards to China. I can make them faster -- normally in one day and that would be expensive to outsource. But the cost, with the copper board, mill, bits, chemicals, dry film, copper plate, time -- there isn't any cost savings if you could wait 3-4 weeks for the shipment from china. I do get some fun and enjoyment out of making my own, so there's that factor.
bt
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "gandolfreefer" <synchronousmosfet@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Guys,
>
> I started trying to make my own PCB's three years ago, and joined this group a while back.
>
> I am wondering if any of you feel 100% confident about any particular method. I've tried 'em all - I've got a stack of laminators, chemicals, photo-exposers, rub-on stuff, special papers, twenty $IR#@!! software programs, the fancy bubbler etcher, enough bottles of every type of etchant ever invented to kill half of Philadelphia if I poured them in the water supply, even the fancy stuff that tin-plates the copper after etching, and - oh, yeah - three printers....
>
> and I gotta tell ya, at the risk of sounding like a complete incompetent, I cannot for the life of me get a decent quality PCB no matter what I do, no matter what website I go to, no matter who's kit I buy.
>
> I'm just about to give up and just order the d∗'d things from Sunstone and be done with it, but i thought I'd give this onnnnnnnnnnnnne last try............
>
> Is there ONE method for DIY'ing PCB boards that WORKS?? Or are all of them still "tweaky" random-chance methods, depending upon the phase of the moon, the humidity, what type of local mold spores are blowing in the air off the surrounding desert, whether your girlfriend is having her period, etc......for the %(^$#!!! method to actually work?
>
> Honestly, I'm a perfectly good DIY'er who has made stuff on lathes, mills, by hand, in metal, wood, plastic, I mean just about everything under the sun, and some of the stuff I've made would knock your eyes out...but I can't seem to get a DIY PCB method I can depend on.
>
> Anybody out there with a proven method and equipment that You'd bet your life on?
>
> Best, Charlie
>