Homebrew PCBs

I posted a picture of the next generation electrostatic
toner experiment to the photos page.

I ripped the fuser out of my HPLJ4L.
Printed the image on inkjet overhead transparency media.
Electrostatically transferred it to the copper.
Fused it on a hot plate. I overdid it.
You can see that the traces on the TQFP64 have run together.
I'm not sure the plastic media did any better than copy paper.
Haven't tried it on the picture paper.  Not sure whether I
can just heat it less or will need to compensate the
footprint for the spread.

Need a way to keep the image doner material from sliding
around on the copper when I place it.  I see hinges and
stuff in my future.

I have metrology problems.

I'm using an IR thermometer to measure temperature.  It won't
measure shiny copper.  Ideas?

I'm not really sure what the transfer voltage is.
Measures 6KV with a 600Meg resistor, but I'm running the
experiments open-circuit.  I can solve this by leaving the
meter connected, but

I'm terrified that I'm gonna arc something to ground
and blow out every transistor in every instrument on my
workbench.  Need a more controlled environment.

There's already a small wet spot on the floor 'cause
I grabbed the charged apparatus.

Not ready to give up just yet.

mike

On a different subject, I found RinsAway dissolving PVA paper at a local
fabric shop.  I didn't buy any because it didn't say it
was heat resistant.  And it didn't look all that smooth.
I'm down to 8mil track widths.
It's also all folded up in a small package.
Creases can't be good.  I did try toilet paper.  It starts out
all fluffy, but if you iron it before printing, it becomes a lot more
dimensionally 
stable.  It doesn't come
off any better than anything else.  But RV toilet paper might work
for small boards.  Can't remember where I stashed the RV stuff.

I bought a Pigma Micron 005 pen.  Has a 0.2mm linewidth.
Haven't had a chance to try it.  Might be interesting if it
turns out to be etchant resistant.  I did get an "almost good
enough" plot out of a Lumocolor 313-2 pen.  Just a little too
wide.  Also having problems with Protel 99SE.  It wants to split tracks
into segments and plot them at random.  Get chunks of almost dried
ink stuck on the pen.  Need a way to coerce it to plot a whole
track without lifting the pen.  Ideas?

I did install EAGLE and tried making a trace outline for a router.
This looks very promising for normal boards.  Ain't gonna help much
with the current board.

I haven't seen anything written about the effects of various
etchants on various resists.  Can't be all the same???
Bought some H2O2 and HCL.  Waiting for a resolution on the current
regeneration thread before I make some.

With the acid etch, can you use reverse plating at the same time?


And yes, I am running off in all directions at once.
So many things to try...so little time.