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

Hi all,

I appologize for the rather vague subject line, but I'm having a
little trouble.

First off, want to say hi to the list, Although I have done some PCB
etching and such, I still consider myself a very newbie.

Here is my problem - I'm looking to decide on a path to follow for
doing my pcb's at home. I really only expect to do single and dual
layer boards.

My problem is methodology.

I've done a little photo resist, some ink resist, etc., but I'm at a
crossroads now.

I'm either going to follow the path of photoresist and etch, and buy
or build a UV exposure box. Or I am going to go the path of getting
an inexpensive or homebuilt CNC router to cut out my PCB traces.

I've talked with one person that happens to be on the list and he
prefers the etching methods.

But I really am looking for opinions - I don't want to start a war,
which I know a post like this can do, so if you prefer to respond to
me in private, that's fine.

My personal thoughts, the reason why I am fence hedging right now
is...

Etching - chemicals hazardus with disposal rules, extra time taken
to print transparency, expose the board, develop the board, then
etch the board. Not sure where to get a good supply of the
photoresist and developer, negative or positive. Been using pre-
sensitized boards, but would rather self-sensitize the boards as
needed.

Routing - Seems quicker, generates a bit of a mess, can't do as
dense traces which limits use of surface mount chips, or higher
density TH chips. More difficult to align for dual sided boards.
significantly more expensive to enter into, but equipment could be
used for other things. Not sure where to find quality bits for
routing PCB's (the angular tip ones)

The other thing I'm confused about is the solder mask (I think
that's what it's called) - the green layer commonly found on
production PCB's -is it possible to find this stuff and how
difficult is it to apply?

I really hate to ask so many questions in one email, but I've been
reading thru the files on this site, and the links provided in the
links section, as well as the past several pages of posts, and I'm
still unsure of where/how to proceed.

-Tony