Homebrew PCBs

The iron is from another hobby of mine, model airplanes. We use a small
iron to put on plastic covering. I run it very hot, well over 350F as
measured with my thermometer which is  sold to put on the top of wood
burning stoves.

The thermometer costs less than $5 at hardware/home/improvement stores.

The iron is available from hobby shops or online Tower Hobbies or
Horizon Hobbies for a little over $20.  The sole plate is replacable and
they will not take excessive force from the handle. When you can see
through the paper to the toner you have applied enough heat & pressure
to that spot. I held a steel ruler across half the sheet of
paper/pcboard sandwich until I got the first half done. It was not
neccessary to hold the paper for the second half, but I did the same
because I kept the work stationary. I did the ironing on a wood
workbench. An extra ruler is advised, it gets pretty hot. Too much
ironing makes the toner spread a little.

I will get the numbers from the HP paper and post them later.
I bought a GBC Laminator and so far it has not worked out. The one I
bought is limited to 0.040 throat capacity(1/32 PCboard required)  and
all of the boards I had were 1/16" .  Also, I felt the temperature was
too low.  I will work on that problem later, but for now I just want a
few usable boards. I have not researched very far but measuring the hot
roll temperature accurately will be step one. I suspect a thermocouple
or two will be required. IR looked unstable and the temperature is too
high for IC's -- I think!)

I have no quarrel with the Pulsar products. I bought a kit from DigiKey
and the initial problem was that I waste too much paper in the printing
process.  My printer will print on 3x5 index cards ok but cutting to
that size still wastes a fair amount of paper. 4x6 gives the same 4 to a
page efficiency. I also plan to return to trying photo paper. There is a
lot of convience with cost & availability.

It did not take me long to figure out that if I am going to Home Brew a
prototype board I don't drill any more holes than I have to.

Also, If the Radio Shack ProtoType boards were not of such poor quality
I would use at least a few of them.  It takes a lot of skill to make
them work and the intended market is entry level. I suppose that is what
happens when the office staffers spec the technology products.

For now, this experiment is going well, but not well enough to keep me
from building an Arduino one a Plug ProtoType Board if I have the time
this afternoon!

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Kevin Byrne <kbyrne10@...> wrote:
>
> What kind or iron did you use, how much heat and what is the number on
the box of HP paper if I may ask a question? . I am some one trying to
master iron on method before I invest in a laminator of Pulsar Pro Corp.
Design.
> Best Kevin
>
> ________________________________
>

John Ferrell     W8CCW@... <mailto:W8CCW@...>




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