Homebrew PCBs

On 10/31/2013 8:24 PM, Harvey White wrote:

> You won't get one from me, since the laminator I use works fine for me
> with the equipment and board thickness I have.

That's great but it seems like the majority of beginners are having 
problems with the iron.  As they not only can work well but usually 
require zero investment, it is still well worth considering a better way 
of using them.

> And the difference in calibrating your process to a laminator? Seems
> to be the same in either case. The advantage of the laminator is that
> the temperature and pressure are fixed, so if they work.........

True, if there is only one variable, you are home free but this is not 
the case as you still have board size and thickness which effect the 
surface temperature as a function of time.
Also most people have mentioned that it takes more than one pass and I 
have heard of more laminators that don't work or need to be modified 
than from people totally happy with them.


> Or use an iron-constantan thermocouple on a DMM.... another way.

How would you measure the transfer medium temperature with a thermocouple?

The best you could do embed it in whatever the board rests on an measure 
the temperature of that general area.

With the IR meter you can scan the entire surface in about  a second and 
know the temperature of the only place that matters.

  js
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