Homebrew PCBs

Ah yes, a laminator. It does sound appealing. 

Part of the problem is seeing if the circuit does it's job over time.
If I have to change the layout, then it would be cheaper to do it
myself, I think. I will look up some vendors just to have a more
complete idea.

Maybe using the toner method would be better for proof of concept for
maybe 1 or 2 dozen boards, then later decide what route to take. I
don't mind soldering the boards myself. 

Any thoughts on routing a couple dozen or so boards? Anyone tried that
many with a cnc?

Mike



--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
<stefan_trethan@g...> wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Jul 2005 21:17:01 +0200, Mike Phillips <mikep_95133@y...>  
> wrote:
> 
> > Hi all,
> > Been a silent member for a while. Just picked up an old HP 6L laser
> > printer to start my project. Glad I read up on the laser printer
> > process first in this group, as I made the guy put in a toner
> > cartridge that actually printed out dark black not gray as the first
> > one did. Score one for the group!
> > The project is an electric truck. It has 104 12v batterys. It needs a
> > bit of overvoltage regulation to prevent it from toasting 104 $60
> > batterys. So that means the potential of making 104 pcb's plus spares.
> > It's fairly simple with all the parts on just one side, and smt at
that.
> > It looks like since I originally joined, that using a heat press for
> > doing badges and such has become quite helpful. Not sure what you call
> > the machine. I will look into that as well. I planned on using just a
> > standard teflon coated clothes iron to press the toner to the pcb. But
> > after printing out the pcb's in a 4 pcb x 5 pcb pattern, it occured to
> > me that the 12 mil traces are too narrow for this type of pcb
> > manufacturing. The pcb is about 2.3 x 2.8 or so. So far 20 of them fit
> > on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet. Seems that the rolling press might pay for
> > itself over 104+ pcb's. More research. Any brands that stand out? At
> > this point I'll take any tips you guys have.
> > Thanks,
> > Mike
> 
> 
> that rolling press is called a laminator, and it is much better than
using  
> an iron (more consistent results).
> There are brands that are known to work, but i use a old fuser from a  
> copier so i dunno.
> Others will surely comment.
> 
> 
> For such a large number of PCBs even i would consider a commercial  
> service, as they are incredibly cheap now, esp. if yoou need more
than 20  
> PCBs or so. look in the links section, and i know futurlec is pretty
cheap  
> too, though it takes a while.
> 
> ST