Homebrew PCBs

On Tue, 25 Oct 2005 22:42:12 +0200, lcdpublishing  
<lcdpublishing@...> wrote:

> Okay, that's a new one for me...  Colophony Resin?
> What is that stuff and where can you get it? I am willing to give
> just about anything a try - this if fun....
> Till, see my newest post about fixing traces
> Chris


It's resin, from trees like pine, with the turpentine removed.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colophony>

It's widely used as soldering flux, and can be left on the PCB especially  
if there are no special requirements for extreme isolation resistance  
etc.. It is not active (not etching the copper) when cold.

If you get chunks of it you can solve it in alcohol and paint it on, or  
you can buy spraycans where it's already mixed.

It is important to note that there are wide color/quality variations, from  
almost black to almost like glass. If it is used as flux and should remain  
on the PCB the light colored qualities are preferrable.

It's also useful as a general purpose brush-on flux.

ST