Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: Homebrew PCBs

previous by date index next by date
previous in topic topic list next in topic

Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Alternate Masking Materials (CO2 Laser)

From: kabowers@...
Date: 2010-12-30

Another thought:
Is the laser from a laser printer strong enough to melt toner in an
application like this? To achieve 600+ DPI they have to be rather tightly
focused and if the warning labels have any relationship to
reality they are fairly potent devices. Remember in printers the laser
bleeds charge off the drum and doesn't intentionally heat anything.
but it does pass over any given pixel quite rapidly.

--------------------

On Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:27:06 -0500, you wrote:

>This is a brilliant idea - it also solves the problem of vaporized resist
>redepositing on the board.
>
>Has anyone tried anything like this?
>
>-Andrew
>
>On Wed, Dec 29, 2010 at 9:28 PM, <kabowers@...> wrote:
>
>>
>> Could you maybe do an addictive process?
>>
>> I wonder what would happen if you spread a film of loose toner over
>> the board and then used the laser to melt it where you wanted traces.
>> Then dust the board off and etch. Might want a second heating with a high
>> intensity lamp or some such to more firmly fuse the toner to the copper.
>>
>> I suspect this type of process would require a lot less energy than
>> vaporizing
>> something. It would also get away from possible problems of the copper
>> reflecting
>> the laser beam back into the laser and damaging it. IIRC copper is a really
>> great reflector of infrared energy.
>> Keith Bowers WB4LSJ- Thomasville, NC
>>
>
>
>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>------------------------------------
>
>Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>