Homebrew PCBs

Back in highschool, which was quite a while ago now, we used to use a
similar method, but using a tee shirt press, and something that looked like
overhead transparencies, but they were some special plastic sheets that
released the toner well (I asked the teacher if they were
just transparencies  and he said no, they were special, and showed me the
package, and maybe even gave me a few sheets, but I have no idea who made
them anymore). The press was a pretty foolproof method, as the temperature
was preset, and it had a timer and would automatically open the press at
the end of the cycle. A little touchup with a sharpie, and it was ready for
etching. I think the teacher just used the photocopier to print the
patterns to the transfer sheets, and the only board prep was just to polish
it with steel wool, so not exactly ideal conditions, so touchup was
necessary. Also, all discrete through hole parts, so nothing that couldn't
be touched up by hand.

I did get a tee shirt press some time after that, but it didn't get hot
enough to do toner transfers well. Eventually I got a laminator, and that
seems to work well, though I need to cut down on the number of passes -
some times the toner is a bit squeezed out around the edges. Good idea on
the waffle iron for small boards though!

Andrew


On Sun, Jul 14, 2013 at 3:17 PM, fred27murphy <fred27murphy@...>wrote:

> **
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> Looks like you made it onto Hackaday. Always a good sign.
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>  
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