Homebrew PCBs

There seem to be a number of coatings for inkjet paper, one is more or
less simple clay. This is found on matte type paper, and also on
magazine paper (where the gloss seems to come from the ink at times
rather than the paper). Clay paper comes off relatively easily with
water, but leave a white residue. Also the paper, since it is matte,
and because of the nature of the clay, leaves a slightly rough surface
leading to a slightly uneven transfer (in thickness).

The glossy type coating seems to come in at least two varieties, one
very much like plastic that will melt onto the PCB and not come off
the copper. That one is useless. The other type (maybe gelatin, maybe
not) still adheres much better than the clay type but will come off
with enough effort. The advantage of the glossy paper is that the
surface is flat, and makes a very nice transfer.

Obviously paper without any coating produces very poor results,
because the toner soaks in between the fibers and becomes inseparable.

Personally, I use a glossy paper now, after the matte type. I can only
recommend you buy a number of different papers until you find one that
works very well. Ideally you'd have some other application for the
useless ones. Alternatively or additionally you can also check out the
groups database section to see what worked for other people.

Maybe it's just that there are more inkjet photo papers compared to laser?

ST

On Sun, Nov 29, 2009 at 2:04 PM, Andrew Mathison
<andrewdavid.mathison@...> wrote:
>  Hi Stefan Trethan
>
>  You wrote:-
>
>  >It's probably best to try some inkjet paper too. Most people seem to have best results with inkjet paper.
>
>  Do you think that this maybe due to the fact that the paper is better "sealed" to stop the ink soaking in like a sponge and letting the characters therefore becoming less clear?
>  If true, then the better a paper is "sealed" (probably not the best word!), the better the transfer to the PCB I would imagine......
>
>  I wonder if a paper laquer (there are some around in spray cans from stationers to stop prints changing color too quickly or absorbing water) might be tried by someone, to see if that gives an even better effect.....
>
>  Has anyone tried inkjet foils? Or laser foils? They are plastic, theoretically they might "give up" their toner even better........apologies to everyone if this has already been tried out....
>
>  Thats my 2 cents worth....
>
>  Regards
>
>  Andy
>