Homebrew PCBs

trevwhite74 wrote:
>> thanks alot for your effort....
>> now the remaining task is to find out what the chemicals are, and
> how/where to get.
>> thanks again
>> (I am moving this text to the files section)
>>
>>
> 
> No problem. The group made me aware of it so nice to share the
> information. I am actually in touch with the company and trying to
> find out if it is possible to buy the kit and how much it will cost to
> ship to the UK. I have no idea at this time if that is possible. 
> 
> Depending on how much it will cost to try and purchase them I might be
> able to sort out something if others in the UK are interested. Some
> kind of group buy? Fingers crossed they do not cost too much. 
> 
> Trev
> 

Thanks for doing the translation. The process is a lot less mystical 
now. Its a novel method they use to selectively plate the holes by their 
initial "anti plating" mask coating. They have obviously spent lot of 
time working out the process and chemistry, and it might not be cheap. 
But like any proprietary highly specialised product, it depends entirely 
what the market are willing to pay. Just think what sort of profit 
margins do you think are in some perfumes.

People have been using electroless nickel plating on non-conductors for 
many years, just like electroless copper. I'm afraid a palladium 
chloride solution is used as the "activation" step which cost like 
AU$700 /litre last time I checked. The dark brown colour of the 
"activator" step in the video gives this away.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palladium_chloride

Two main drawbacks I see are:
* The hole plating thickness will be thin and not suitable for high 
current PCBs.
* Nickel salts are quite toxic compared to copper salts.
* Electroless baths are inherently unstable so they might not be good 
for hobbyists who use them once a month or so. Hope someone can prove me 
wrong here.

And an overview of electroless nickel
http://www.pfonline.com/articles/pfdbarnstead01.html