Homebrew PCBs

>Here is a link to a web article where the etching process does indeed use 
>household vinegar (with drugstore-strength hydrogen peroxide and table salt.)

     I've used this to remove nickel plating from a brass substrate. The 
brass was very shiny underneath and I wondered if it was being removed as 
well, but I never cared enough to test it on the copper on a pcb. 

     For anyone who cares, this is what I did:

     Start with about two ounces of white vinegar
     Dissolve about two tablespoons of non-iodized table salt in the 
vinegar
     Add about two ounces of plain drugstore peroxide

     Stir with part to be etched until the desired material has been 
removed.

     In reality, it was: slop vinegar into a paper cup to about 1/3 full, 
pour two piles of salt in hand and dump in, stir, slop in peroxide to 
about 2/3 full, stir with plated part. It went faster than I anticipated.

     It might be slow for a pcb, but it has advantages for those who 
don't want HCl around the house - the kids can only get into so much 
trouble with a bottle of vinegar.

     -Gary