Homebrew PCBs

hi

i am from europe sp i do not know the correct names for the boards at your 
location.

paper phenol is one of the cheapest boards.
it is made of paper/cardboard like material soaked in phenol resin to make 
it solid, prevent soaking with water, increase dielectric
properties, etc.
epoxy boards are most time glass fiber with epoxy resin.
a good quality is known as FR4. this is very solid material, you may not be 
able to break it without tools.
i think those "fr4" may be a category number like "cat5, 4, 3" with cables 
but i am not sure.

anyways most shops only sell "paper phenol resin type" and "glass fiber 
epoxy fr4" so you don't need any other.

there is also some strange "teflon" material available, sold for high 
frequency circuits (really HF).
expensive, i did not need until now. i think it is white.


it is hard to tell which one to try first, i only use fr4 material.
but that is because i didn't have to buy in small quantities at a shop at 
high price.

the paper phenol resin material is easy to cut and drill. but its 
mechanical stability is a bit less.
it is easier to bend/break and it doesn't resist too much heat (but 
enough...).
i was told it is no longer used. this is wrong, a lot of cheap equipment 
(tv etc.) uses this material.
it is also a bit cheaper than fr4 if you buy it in a shop..


the glass fiber reinforced (is that what FR means? fiber reinforced? WHERE 
ARE THE EXERTS??) material
is much stronger, the glass fibers make hss drill bits and saws blunt very 
fast.
but you can drill a couple of holes with cheap hss bits if you need.
you can also cut it with a normal jigsaw blade, or better with a diamond 
equipped one for cutting ceramics.
but if you really want to work with it you may want carbide drill bits and 
a carbide bladed table saw.


the qualities of paper phenol board vary a lot. but if you don't have the 
right tools please buy it.
you may also buy samples of fr4 to see if you like it more.
if you can use carbide drill bits and cut the boards please buy fr4. i find 
it worth the prize.
i also use fr4 a lot when i need "sheeting" for mounting purposes etc.
i used aluminium sheeting (2mm or so) in the past for this occassions but 
fr4 is very nice for this.


to answer your questions:
best is glass fiber expoy resin type (teflon/ceramic for HHHF).
worst is cheap quality paper resin (which is brittle when drilling already 
because of bad/little resin).

try both.
start with paper resin for easy mechanical work but make one pcb fr4 also.

hope this helps a bit. but i guess there is lot of information on the web 
which is more exact...


regards
stefan


On Mon, 07 Jul 2003 09:04:07 -0000, Mark Farnell <farnell_mark@...> 
wrote:

> Hi!
>
> I am a newbie in homebrew PCB.  I know that there are many types of PCBs 
> available, such as paper phenol and epoxy.  What are their 
> characteristics?  Which one is the best and which one is the worst?  As a 
> newcomer, which one should I try first?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Mark
>
>
>
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