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

I went out yesterday to Staples and got a letter sized Rubbermaid
hanging folder holder, and to a pet shop and got an air pump, heater,
hose and air stone. It sound like I should return the air stone and
just pierce the tubing a bunch to let the air out, instead. The
rubbermaid thing is about 13 x 9 x 4, internal, with a lip around the
inside for hanging folders (or pcb holders). It has a hinged top (the
hinge is just a fold between the top bottom) that snaps on, and a
carrier handle that 'locks' the top down. It's marked with 5 in the
recycle symbol, and PP. I'm assuming that its poly propylene. I have a
plastic pail in the garage with a snap on top that came holding bulk cat
litter, but it looks like 2.5 gallons or so, and has no easy to use
places for hanging board holders. I have some 1.25 inch, 80 psi sewer
pipe, which is black, not white. I don't know the chemistry. I was
thinking about slicing it down one side so I can just shove the edge of
the board in there, like an upside down flag, and just put it in the
etchant with the long end sticking out.
I got 2 gallons of hcl for $5 at home despot, and a quart of h2o2 for
a buck at Savon. Now all I have to do is use the stuff.
Does anyone know of any limitations on etching chemistries for
different types of plastic?
I've looked around some, and never seen any sites that say 'use 5
parts hcl to 1 part h2o2 to 9 parts h2o', or whatever. Does anyone know
what the final % hcl and h2o2 the solution should start with? I've seen
how to keep the cucl2 going, but not how to start it right.
Thanks,
Richard