Homebrew PCBs

I have had great luck using fine point sharpies stuck into home made adaptors and plotting directly onto FR4 with a slightly modified HP 7475  plotter. (modified to allow the use of full height pens)


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Andrew Villeneuve <andrewmv@...> wrote:
>
> This is actually exactly what I was using the first time around with
> terrible results.
> 
> I've done a little experimentation, and gotten the industrial fine-point
> sharpie pens to work perfectly - they seem to resist as well as the toner.
> 
> I found I was making two mistakes:
> 
> 1) As has been pointed out by just about everybody on the list, I was
> marking too lightly. Even a slightly darker line makes a significant
> difference. I've gotten in the habit to retracing all my resist lines after
> the ink dries - it doesn't take more than a few seconds.
> 
> 2) I was originally etching using the "tankless" method of putting a few
> tablespoons of room-temperature FeCL on a sponge and rubbing the copper off
> the board.  This actually does work as advertised, but ONLY ON TONER - the
> friction rubs every bit of resist ink off the board well before the etching
> is complete.
> 
> It's also remarkably tedious and time consuming - I don't believe this
> method is worth the trouble.
> 
> Using a simple hand-agitated etching tank, I couldn't tell the difference
> between sharpie-resist and toner-resist.
> 
> -Andrew
> 
> On Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 2:43 PM, Dave Bobb <dave.bobb@...> wrote:
> 
> >
> >
> > Yes, the ones we use at work are "red" label black sharpies. Ore
> > specifically, industrial acid resistant. It takes forever to scrub
> > these off with 91% alcohol.
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > On Apr 28, 2010, at 10:21 AM, "Tony Smith" <ajsmith@...<ajsmith%40beagle.com.au>>
> >
> > wrote:
> >
> >
> > > > Has anybody had lucks using Sharpies as resist-ink? Are there any
> > > > recommendations on something better?
> > >
> > > I think it's the red ones that work.
> > >
> > > Tony
> > >
> > >
> >
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>