Homebrew PCBs

I just made a board using 8 mil tracks with the JetStar Premium film
sample that Mega sent me. They came out very well with no over-etching
- all the tracks are visually the same width. There are definitely no
breaks.

A minor problem was caused by the film being slightly thicker than the
standard JetStar film, and a little ink got smeared on in one place,
because I use an ordinary piece of paper as a carrier, making the
whole thing a bit too thick. I'll have to remove a couple of small
dots of copper that have caused shorts.

The board has an MSP430F1232, a couple of buttons, an LED, and a Spark
Fun Electronics MiRF module (nRF2401A), all powered by a Li coin cell.
It's mostly SMT.

Leon

leon_heller wrote:
> I just made a board using 8 mil tracks with the JetStar Premium film
> sample that Mega sent me. They came out very well with no over-etching
> - all the tracks are visually the same width. There are definitely no
> breaks.
> 

Interesting. What was your inkjet printer model, printer driver settings 
and if you used refilled black ink, what brand was it ? I've found all 
these factors greatly affect results for a given inkjet film. HP Premium 
inkjet film is best general purpose film I've managed to find.

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "Adam Seychell" <a_seychell@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 9:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] 8 mil tracks with JetStar film


> leon_heller wrote:
>> I just made a board using 8 mil tracks with the JetStar Premium film
>> sample that Mega sent me. They came out very well with no over-etching
>> - all the tracks are visually the same width. There are definitely no
>> breaks.
>>
>
> Interesting. What was your inkjet printer model, printer driver settings
> and if you used refilled black ink, what brand was it ? I've found all
> these factors greatly affect results for a given inkjet film. HP Premium
> inkjet film is best general purpose film I've managed to find.

Printer is an Epson Photo 870. Setting was for Photo Quality Glossy Film. 
Ink was from a local computer supply company, I can't remember the brand and 
the cartridge isn't marked. I've only tried a couple of other films, and the 
JetStar is the only one that works properly.

Leon

> Printer is an Epson Photo 870. Setting was for Photo Quality
> Glossy Film. Ink was from a local computer supply company

What about the durability of the artwork? How scratch resistant is it? 
I've seen cases where all seems to go well with ink and film combo but 
the artwork deteriorates rapidly with use. A coat of clear spray 
becomes necessary in such cases.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Leon Heller" <leon.heller@b...> 
wrote:
>
> Printer is an Epson Photo 870. Setting was for Photo Quality Glossy 
Film. 
> Ink was from a local computer supply company, I can't remember the 
brand and 
> the cartridge isn't marked. I've only tried a couple of other films, 
and the 

> JetStar is the only one that works properly.
> 
> Leon
>

----- Original Message ----- 

From: "derekhawkins" <eldata@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 1:09 AM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: 8 mil tracks with JetStar film


>> Printer is an Epson Photo 870. Setting was for Photo Quality
>> Glossy Film. Ink was from a local computer supply company
> 
> What about the durability of the artwork? How scratch resistant is it? 
> I've seen cases where all seems to go well with ink and film combo but 
> the artwork deteriorates rapidly with use. A coat of clear spray 
> becomes necessary in such cases.

I generally only make one or two boards, so it doesn't matter too much.

Leon
--
Leon Heller, G1HSM
leon.heller@...
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller

Leon Heller wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "derekhawkins" <eldata@...>
> To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, January 26, 2006 1:09 AM
> Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: 8 mil tracks with JetStar film
> 
> 
> 
>>>Printer is an Epson Photo 870. Setting was for Photo Quality
>>>Glossy Film. Ink was from a local computer supply company
>>
>>What about the durability of the artwork? How scratch resistant is it? 
>>I've seen cases where all seems to go well with ink and film combo but 
>>the artwork deteriorates rapidly with use. A coat of clear spray 
>>becomes necessary in such cases.
> 
> 
> I generally only make one or two boards, so it doesn't matter too much.
> 

All fine detailed printouts should be handled with care. I wear cotton 
gloves when I need to handle the film aggressively. A big problem is 
dust and particle contamination, especially when the film has some 
static charge. I take an unused very clean paint brush and prior to 
exposure I wipe down surfaces of the vacuum frame glass, photoresist, 
and photomask.

Adam

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Adam Seychell 
<a_seychell@y...> 
wrote:
>
<snip>
> 
> All fine detailed printouts should be handled with care. I wear 
cotton 
> gloves when I need to handle the film aggressively. A big problem 
is 
> dust and particle contamination, especially when the film has some 
> static charge. I take an unused very clean paint brush and prior 
to 
> exposure I wipe down surfaces of the vacuum frame glass, 
photoresist, 
> and photomask.
> 

Photo stores carry specially designed anti-static brushes for 
darkroom work. They are made with very soft, fine-haired bristles 
and have some sort of ionizing insert (polonium?) built into them. 
You may find that they work better than ordinary paint brushes. 
IIRC, they're not particularly expensive.


Regards, Bob

> All fine detailed printouts should be handled with care.

Inserting/extracting the board into/from the double sided "sandwich" is 
where 90% of wear and tear occurs IMO. Epson dye ink on Epson 
transparencies handles this best IMO. I wouldn't even think of using 
Ultrachrome ink double sided artwork more than once unless there is a 
clear overcoat. Single sided shouldn't be a problem with any reasonable 
combo.


--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Adam Seychell <a_seychell@y...> 
wrote:
>
> All fine detailed printouts should be handled with care. I wear 
cotton 

> gloves when I need to handle the film aggressively. A big problem is 
> dust and particle contamination, especially when the film has some 
> static charge. I take an unused very clean paint brush and prior to 
> exposure I wipe down surfaces of the vacuum frame glass, photoresist, 
> and photomask.
> 
> Adam
>