Homebrew PCBs

two things,

first, the component legend is easily freed from paper residue by abrasive  
pad (meant for cleaning copper tubing to solder), which i use for cleaning  
the copper too. then use a paper towel (use shop-grade recycled material  
which is pretty abrasive) and polish it to a shine with a few rubs.
(could use polishing wheel too.)
Gives a perfect shiny component legend, similar looking to black  
silkscreen (actually much better ;-) )
(Note: previously i used abrasive kitchen cleaner and a lot more effort to  
polish it and remove the residue).

Also keep in mind component legend can NOT be re-done. Once it's on it's  
on. You can't remove it fully.


second, alignment of double sided boards or copper artwork bottom /  
component legend top in one go:
I realised the problem with aligning double-sided things was that the  
paper shifted when fed into the
fuser no matter how hard i tried to glue/tape it etc.
I needed a glue to stick the paper directly to the PCB. The obvious is to  
use toner!
i just make a 5mm broad strip of solid toner above the artwork, and stick  
it on with a clothes iron.
Works great. only iron the strip to prevent any bad effects on the other  
artwork. Maybe the artwork
itself could be used to stick it with the iron, and the laminator only to  
ensure a uniform adhesion.
The 5mm strip is not a problem for me because i use it to clamp the board  
during etch.

not yet had time to work on the "paper shrinkage caused by heating in the  
fuser" issue.

ST