Homebrew PCBs

The boards I use are branded: Ever-Muse. I believe that I bought 
them from this web site:
http://www.web-tronics.com
http://www.web-tronics.com/printed-circuit-board-supplies.html
Their prices seem good and I liked dealing with them.
The particular boards I got came in a metallic bag. No special 
handling or storage required other than that. They also have an 
opaque plastic coating that you peel off before use. I've cut them 
in subdued light and done everything in a normal room, just keeping 
the light level low.

For exposure, I have a fluorescent ring-lamp that I place about 6-8" 
from the surface and expose about 10 minutes. It took a little 
experimentation to get the exposure down.

Once you've exposed, it's just a developer stage then rinse and 
etch. 

Making double sided boards was a little tricky. I would develop one 
side then drill through a few index marks. Then I'd align the second 
side very carefully using those index holes.

One important thing I learned was that it's best to drill after 
developing but before etching. Unless you've got really big pads, it 
seemed that the drilling would rip things up if done after etching.


-Ted


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Matt Lorenz <mklorenz@c...> 
wrote:
> can you share more information about where to purchase these photo 
boards.
> 
> do you have to keep the boards in the dark same as photography?
> 
> do you have to expose, develop, stop, fix, then etch?
> 
> what are the steps to processing?
> 
> thanks.
> 
> mkl
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <ted@s...>
> To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Saturday, December 14, 2002 7:17 AM
> Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: How to make a PCB at home
> 
> 
> > What led to the failures?
> >
> > I'm a novice at home PCB etching but had very good success with
> > photo-transfer.
> >
> > I purchased pre-sensitized PCB's then printed my PCB designs on 
an
> > Epson inkjet printer and high quality transparency film. The 
quality
> > was superb. Doing this I was able to make double sided boards
> > without too much hassle. The pre-sensitized boards were about $25
> > per square foot, I think.
> >
> > I compared this to printing the designs on a laser printers (I 
tried
> > two different lasers) and neither of the lasers had accurate
> > reproductions. The material didn't feed consistently and the
> > magnification wasn't exactly 100%. The inkjet on the other hand 
was
> > super accurate, beyond my capacity to measure.
> >
> > The main thing I had to do was get high quality inkjet 
transparency
> > film and print in highest quality mode.
> >
> > The film I used was Pictorico premium OHP transparency film. The
> > quality is absolutely perfect on this film, much better than the 
3m
> > and Apolo films I tried which don't seem to take the ink very 
well.
> >
> > The other thing that was important was to print the images 
mirrored,
> > so that I could put the printed side of the material in direct
> > contact with the board. If you print normally, then the light 
has to
> > go through the transparency material after striking the printed
> > pattern, and then it gets blurry by the time it reaches the 
board.
> > This is key for sharp lines. Plus of course the glass on top to 
keep
> > things flat.
> >
> > good luck.
> > -Ted
> >
> > --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Salam <salamgobran@h...>"
> > <salamgobran@h...> wrote:
> > > what is the best way to produce a PCB out of a layout on the 
PC at
> > > home ?? i tried  a lot and failed a lot
> >
> >
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files:
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> >
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> >
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> >
> >