Homebrew_PCBs

FYI



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Pete Brown - Gambrills, MD (Near Annapolis)
Visit my personal site : http://www.irritatedVowel.com
(wallpaper, western maryland ry, .net, photography, model rr)



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From: tompiccirillo [mailto:tpiccirillo@...]
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 1:08 PM
To: traintools@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [traintools] Re: Answers from Micro Mark on their Etching Kit



We're pleased to see all the interest in our Pro-Etch System.

Over the two-year development time, we've tried many of the various
suggestions in your messages, and found that the materials and
methods we offer in the kit gave the best results, including the use
of the inkjet printer over the laser printer.

One correction...the maximum thickness of the metal/resist sandwich
that will fit through the laminator used to apply the resist to the
metal sheet is about .015 inch, and we recommend a maximum metal
thickness of .010 inch.

The system is capable of etching from one side or from both sides,
so you can create parts with surface detail.

We have had quite remarkable results with this sytem, even when
compared to commercially sold detail parts made on very-expensive
industrial equipment.

We think the kit is a good value.


Regards,
Tom Piccirillo
General Manager
Micro-Mark



--- In traintools@yahoogroups.com, "Earl T. Hackett, Jr."
<hacketet@c...> wrote:

> I've seen some pretty good samples made from ink jet artwork using

a photo

> etch technique. I ran into an interesting observation on another

list. The

> author was attempting to photo etch some circuit boards using ink

jet and/or

> laser printer artwork. He was having problems with getting a

sufficiently

> dark image. Then he heard that photo inks have UV blockers to

make the

> image last longer. He also realized that photo ink jet printers

have a very

> high dpi rating. He experimented and found that green produced a

nice

> transparent image in visible light, but the combination of the

inks that

> produce the image are completely opaque to UV. It was for more

opaque in UV

> than the black of either type of printer.
>
> You can etch thicker metal sheets, but it takes a long time.

Figure 1 to 5

> minutes per mil depending on the condition of the etchant,

temperature, and

> agitation. A .025" sheet could take a couple of hours to cut all

the way

> through.. You also eat up a lot of etchant. One way to lessen

the amount

> of etchant consumed is to blank out any areas that don't

absolutely need to

> be etch. Just etch a narrow line - say .020" wide - around the

part you

> want.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pete Brown" <YahooLists@i...>
> To: <traintools@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 12:40 PM
> Subject: [traintools] Answers from Micro Mark on their Etching Kit
>
>
> > Just received these responses to the questions I posed to Micro
> > Mark. The answers are inline with the questions below:
> >
> > 2. What is the maximum thickness of material that the system will
> > comfortably handle? The included materials are 0.005" thick.

Will it

> > handle, say, 0.020" thick materials in the laminator and etching
> > tank?
> >
> > Answer: 0.005" thick
> >

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