Homebrew PCBs

Dissolvo is sending me a sample pack of all their paper weights, including the 4-mil coated. I'm looking forward to trying them out. I'll post the results. The 3-mil paper does not curl in either the printer or laminator, stays nice and flat. The paper is a little slick so I had to fold it over the end of the copper clad to get a clean start into the laminator.

When I tried my first run through the laminator I made 6 passes. This worked for the thick paper I was using but was too many passes for the dissolvo 3-mil. The 10-mil board outline was "squished" in a couple of spots. 2 passes works just right. This is what I used to get the clean 6-mil text on the 2nd try.

When I get more paper I'm going to try printing and laminating an 8 by 10 inch board outline with a pad at each corner to check the dimensional stability.

It also dawned on me that if I mess up a print, I should be able to simply print on the unused side and laminate that image instead. Sure would cut down on waste. I'll give that a try also.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Jan Kok <jan.kok.5y@...> wrote:
>
> On Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 3:59 AM, leeleduc <leeleduc@...> wrote:
> > I called the company that makes the paper and asked an applications engineer if I could run it through a laser printer and he said it would print just fine. I can print fine lines with it, the text on the photo titled "2nd try" is 6mil. The paper is a little thinner that 20lb copy paper (3mil vs 4mil) but my printer handles it just fine. BTW, I'm using an HP P2055DN. Here's a link for all the paper sizes the company makes. They are sending me a sample of the 7mil paper to try.
> >
> > http://www.dissolvo.com/welding_products.php
> 
> I would think the 3 mil paper would transfer the heat from the
> laminator faster, and would be less stiff, thus less likely to curl,
> so the 3 mil paper might transfer the toner better. The only advantage
> to thicker paper I can think of is that it might be more dimensionally
> stable.
> 
> Dissolvo also has some "coated" 4-mil paper that is less permeable to
> gas. Perhaps that coating would provide a smoother surface that would
> allow sharper, finer lines. Can you get a sample of that and try it
> also?
> 
> Looking forward to hearing your results! :-)
>