Hi Bob,
In my quest to find a repeatable and accurate imaging and to make a reasonable PCB, I've tried numerous photographic paper with toner transfer.
I've also used Pulsar paper.
First of all, HP toner has a melting point (commonly written as MP###) of around 95C to 105C. The toner transfers very easily from the Pulsar paper onto the copper so you do not need to heat the iron to max. Doing so causes the toner to liquify too much and the edge of the image will bleed.
Set the iron onto silk to see if it will transfer. if it still bleeds then set it to a lower temperature. if it didn't transfer set it to a higher temperature. Iron are not accurate at all so you will have to play with it to get the right temperature.
Don't need to press it crazy hard. Transfer happens within 20seconds of heating and moderate pressure. Again trial and error.
If the image transferred to the copper but manages to peel off or lift off, then carefully bake the board in a oven at 200F for about 10 minutes. This will soften the transferred toner, make it sticky and will cause the toner to stick to the copper on your PCB. Make sure the toner is not touching anything else, touch only the copper. My two sided board is held up only on the edges while it is in the oven and during cooling. You can think of this as anealing the film and it helps to reduce the porosity of the toner.
I didn't find the green TRF film all that helpful.
If you do these things, and etch, your traces should look plenty good. I've managed to get a clean footprint for PLCC.
If you really want to get a manufactured grade look, then use a photo resist.
Still have some pulsar but mostly going with photo resist.
hope this helps.
smilingcat
> I've been practicing with the toner transfer method and quit digging through the recycle bin in search of the right free paper and made my first board using the Pulsar material today. The image transferred completely and it was MUCH easier, as the dextrin paper came off easily. But the quality of the image wasn't much better than what I've been getting and certainly nothing like the examples I've seen. Mostly, jaggy traces, uneven edges, pinhole voids in the groundplane areas, etc. It will make a usable board, but I thought I'd seek some advise that might hasten my trip up the learning curve.
>
> Thanks and 73,
> Bob W9RAN
>