--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "John" <jferrell13@...> wrote:
>
> This has become a humpling experience!
> You folks have made this sound too easy, or maybe senility has set in on my part.
>
> First try: Printed a sample from some packages example, magazine paper, HP P1102W Laser printer. Not too bad, did not fuse well to board though.
> I used really thin double sided board, Electronic Goldmine vendor , I think.
> Second try:This time I ordered paper from DigiKey. Made a board with DesignSpark PCB package. It is pretty simple, just cross over from an Arduino to a prototype board with SIP's & some RJ-45 Female connectors to SIP's to stick on a Prototype Board. All on about a 3X5 paper. I used a Double sided board that I had in my junk. Washed in Lacquer thinner, polished with scotch brite pad. Toner did not transfer well and that is where I disvovered I had not properly scaled the paper. The pin spacing was 9 to the inch instead of ten. OK, so I washed the toner off with Lacquer thinner and went to my giant Chinese milling machine to check out drilling the board. I set the 800 pound machine up to run at max spindle speed knowing it would not be fast enough. How about that! The 1 mm drill with the bigger shank did jus fine with it!
> after drilling 40 pins for a DIP chip I realized computer control was going to be essential. Project under planning... The chip fit fine but I wonder about the drill size. It may be too big to leave enough copper for pads. IS 1 mm THE RIGHT SIZE FOR PC BOARDS GENERAL USE?
>
> Third try: I got the scaling right and tried again with some single sided board that I had in my treasure collection. I figured that I needed more heat so I cranked up the heat on the iron to Linen. I did not move it around much but I did push down pretty hard. After about 3 or 4 minutes I heard a "pop" sound and figured I had broke something in the iron. As the paper cooled down it turned kind of brittle. The board bowed away a bit and the stiff paper raised up in spots. I put the paper in a soak bucket and did something else for a bit. When the paper separated not only had the fusing failed to transfer well but the PC board had copper blisters large and all over! I blame the board this time. It was likely over 30 years old.
>
> Fourth try: I ordered some fresh, modern board from Jameco. It did not blister, but did not transfer as well as expected. I think the single side board is going to bow any way I do it I am thinking I need to just use double sided and etch the excess away. Maybe I need to try some different paper too.
>
> Comments, criticism and laughter invited...
>
> John Ferrell W8CCW
>
The repeated failure to transfer your toner seems rather strange. Certainly it sounds like you have got the board clean enough. I found that for me, making it ridiculously clean wasn't really necessary.
The first time I tried was with an iron and I almost couldn't get the time short enough.
I tried what most people seemed to say online - Highest heat, press down for a couple of minutes, which resulted in my design spreading out and becoming very blobby - obviously too hot\too long! - I didn't move it around either - I messed it up even more when I tried that!
Gave up on the iron and now I use a modified laminator that runs at about 170 Degrees C. Works much better than the iron. I can send the board through 20 times and never see anything going 'blobby'
With the iron at a temperature that appears to have de-laminated the board, I think you should have at least got something transferred - like a blobby mess. Then again maybe it was too hot and did something weird to the toner.
Have a look at this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironing#Recommended_ironing_temperatures and pick something around 170 Degrees. See if that helps.
If not, might be time to try a different laser printer? If you don't have access to another one, you could try a copy shop or something.