Mike,
The Staples Picture paper comes off easily. I let it soak in hot
soapy water for about 10 minutes. This paper is NOT like a film
that peels off, rather it almost dissolves in water, then is rubbed
or brushed off. Doesn't take long at all.
I usually run half sheets of paper thru the laserjet. Just cheap I
guess.
The pcb was normal thickness, nothing special. It took me some
experimenting to get the right number of passes thru the laminator
for good adhesion. The GBC laminators are designed to laminate a
paper in one pass. Laminiating a "heavy weight' pcb in a single
pass is beyond the capacity of the heater. The GBC has a handy red
temperature light. After the first pass, it takes a few seconds to
get back up to temp. By running multiple passes, you can reach the
fusing temp. I generally run a dozen passes, some face up, some face
down to even out the heat. The thickness (mass) of the paper and of
the pcb is significant. Remember it is the temperature at the
toner / copper interface that is critical.
I use the release paper from the back of labels as a substrate for
printing legends. It is extremely thin and worksd great. Fewer
passes are needed and it peels off easily. I don't use it for the
copper side because the toner is barely held on to the paper. I had
had problems with the toner flaking off in the past. Though with a
little effort, it would probably work very well.
Good luck with your Laserjet III. Compared to today's laserjets, it
is built and runs like a locomotive. I occasionally consider buying
a new one, but ithe LJIII just keeps chugging along.
Myc
--- In
Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mikezcnc" <eemikez@c...>
wrote:
> How did you exactly remove that heavy paper off the PCB?
> My try with that paper was using Lexmark Optra laser printer.
> However, I conveniently picked up, God knows why, a Laser III the
> other day...What was the thickness of your PCB?
>
> Mike
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "mycroft2152"
> <mycroft2152@y...> wrote:
> > After reading the write up on Staples Picture paper SKU # 471861
> for
> > toner transfer, I decided to give it a try on my next boards.
> >
> > I've had success with a GBC 4" laminator, clay coated inkjet
paper
> > and a Laserjet III+. I also use label release paper for the
legends
> > on the front of the board. The boards were done on Eagle and
were
> > relativey simple with wide-ish traces. There were traces going
> > between pads.
> >
> > The final boards were comparable to my regular setup.
> >
> > What I liked: The heavier paper was easier to handle and went
thru
> > my antique laser jet smoothly. After removing the paper,
transfer
> > was sharp and black. There was no white clay film in the toner
and
> > the holes in the pads cleaned out easily.
> >
> > What I didn't like: The heavier paper required more passes thru
the
> > laminator to get the same results. This was expected. Removal
was a
> > little slower than the clay coated paper, but did completely
come
> > off. The cost was about 3x (30 sheets for $10 vs 100 sheets for
> $10).
> >
> > Overall, I thought the Staples picture paper was pretty good,
> > reasonably cost effective and easy to use. The only
consideration
> > during changeover was allowing for the extra thickness of the
paper
> > in processing.
> >
> > Myc