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Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] laser ablation of paint on copper clad

From: Les Newell <les.newell@...>
Date: 2014-12-09

I tried this with my 40W CO2 laser and didn't have much success. Even with air assist I couldn't get all of the paint off cleanly (or it re-deposited), preventing a clean etch. I tried a whole bunch of different paints and powers but in the end I wasn't happy with the results.

This guy <http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?133,235148> seems to have had some success with a 2W  laser diode.

Les

On 09/12/2014 04:44, 'Jeff Heiss' jeff.heiss@... [Homebrew_PCBs] wrote:

I’m mentally exploring the idea of spray painting copper clad with spray paint and drawing traces in the paint with a laser.  After the laser, the board is then placed in etchant and the copper exposed by the laser is etched away.   I understand this is possible with 20W CO2 lasers by Youtube videos but has anyone explored this with a laser diode?  Is the  abundant ebay 445nm, 1W laser or the 808nm, 3W laser up for the task paint ablation?

Jeff