Homebrew PCBs

Les Newell wrote:
> Hi all,
> Does anyone have a favourite make of inkjet film for printing artwork? It
> looks to be expensive stuff so I would like to use a brand that others have
> had success with. I am using a Lexmark Z25 printer if it makes any
> difference.

I use epson over-head transparencies. They have a smooth coating that
absorbs the ink, eliminating all pin-holes. It costs more than the printer
($3 per sheet), but i can make 30 sheets last a year or more. First, print
the pcb onto paper in economy mode (to save ink). Cut out some transparency
and sticky-tape it over the paper printout area. Feed back into the printer
and print using the highest resolution black ink setting. The transparency
off-cuts can be used for other boards. Unfortunately, refill ink gives bad
results, so i have to use the genuine epson stuff. With this combination,
you can do ~5mil tracks at 720dpi. To minimize ink costs, i got two printers
the same (epson stylus colour 400 which are really cheap in the trading post).
One is only used for PCB printing using the expensive ink and the other does
the usual day-to-day printing using crap refill ink.