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Homebrew PCBs

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Message

Newbie to list, old timer to this hobby and others

2006-12-25 by Russ

New to the list today, have been doing manual resist application and 
slosh etching on occasion as needed since the 70's. Now I have some 
space and this list seems to be the resource I need to move into 
other etchants, resists, etch tank systems, etc. 

I'm a professional 
PC/laptop/server/printer/plotter/copier/network/cabling technician 
after being a conventional and nuclear missile systems tech in the 
USAF as well as a technical instructor for 8 of the 20 in the AF from 
mid 70's to mid 90's. I've also worked for others as a bench tech and 
field service tech since retirement prior to and during my self 
employment that started full time in 2000. I recently went part time 
and went to work at the Toshiba Laptop Depot in Louisville that UPS-
SCS runs under contract for Toshiba, 10 months of popping aspirin to 
chug along (I hated the corporate environment, loved the work when 
they left me alone). Anyway my business in field and bench service is 
back again full time and I've added signs and soon silk screen (did 
that for Illinois Molding Co in Chicago prior to the USAF as wel as 
photolab and studio for Williams & Meyer in Chicago) and learning how 
all the old ways like silk screen have gone from dangerous and 
complicated to easy home level and not-so-dangerous. 

Since I do a lot of laser, thermal, ink, dot, dye, etc printers and 
plotters I also have a fair share of scrap as well as replacement 
parts and sources. I see a lot of people are working with bare fusers 
to make laminators and a few even working with direct toner 
application or electrostatic transfer then heating/fusing for 
resists. I have approx 80 different printers in storage and might 
just tinker this winter with these ideas myself, maybe modify a 600 
or 1200 dpi laser with wide fuser to accomodate direct board feed and 
print. Anyway if and when people come up with needs posted for parts 
for these projects I can probably help out with a free or inexpensive 
item or a source that is reasonable. I'm hanging onto all the 
servomotors and carriage rods for now for a possible CNC project 
later. I also have a vinyl cutter-plotter and see that vinyl is a 
good resist and will try that as well. Mine is a 30" bed but I can 
feed as small as 3" wide so the possibilities are endless.

Question for the list - what's a good or great but free circuit 
drawing program for Windows (XP down to 3.11) or DOS out there I can 
download? Linux of course is another option if it has an x86 version 
or even a Power PC version as I have an old AIX based IBM server I 
can use too. I'm sure there are others for older non-Intel platforms 
such as Commodore (I see someone used a PET for a CNC drill, nice) or 
Apple or TRS-DOS etc but even having a wide array of old machines I 
can use (I have IBMs back to the original PC and non-IBM items back 
to the Commodores, Osbornes, etc) I'd prefer to leave the oldies 
aside for museum pieces more or less and concentrate on machines like 
my dual PIII-1ghz HP X-class machine I bought from GM's Corvette 
plant down here in Ky. 

Any help is appreciated although I will be dead for the most part 
until I get into some free time otherwise I'll lurk and answer if I 
can help.

Russ Blakeman
Clarkson, KY (originally from Chicago)

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