Homebrew PCBs

On Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:13:59 +0100, Torin Walker <torinwalker@...>  
wrote:

> It would be interesting to try to create a home-made version of that  
> "shiny" coating. What chemicals can you think of that would allow one to  
> coat an ordinary piece of laser-printer paper so that one could print on  
> it, and dissolve the bond between the toner and the paper with ordinary  
> water?
> I was imagining a water-soluable shellac, of sorts. My brother is into  
> chemistry. I'll ask him.
> Perhaps we can save on the paper. The film is dirt cheap - 8" x 15' for  
> $8.99. The paper is the killer.
> Torin...


Just use inkjet photo paper. It is the easiest, cheapest option people  
have found.

Several coatings were tried, starch and stuff, i do not remember how those  
turned out exactly (not spectacular or i would remember). I personally  
have very good results with high temperature silicone, but there is a  
problem, the result will "etch through" in places. I do not know why, but  
one reason may be that the silicone does not add any paper residue, like  
the papers do. It is great for component legend though because it leaves a  
jet black toner image with no annoying grey residue, and of course you can  
just pull it off the PCB without any water involved (you can even re-use  
it if you like).

Anyway, the coatings are interesting and all, but nothing (i know of) was  
found that delivers better results than inkjet papers.

ST