Homebrew_PCBs

in the photos section under JMBoard Images is a photo of my first
successful Inkjet PC Board! Well yes I am thrilled... This board has
good runs to 6 mil. 5 and 4 mill would have been OK but the runs broke
at the pad. Not sure but I attribute this to puddling on the pad and
the surface tension of the puddle tugging on the ink at the attaching
run, causing it to thin there.
Quite a lot of work to get there for me. Took three different C84's
have found that once the heads are plugged, on some, they are REALLY
plugged. Soaked them in Steves potion for several weeks and still no
luck, and in fact am still soaking them. All of them had plugged
vacuum pump lines if not from the head port to the port support stand
then from the port support stand through the pump to the "sponge" or
both! The printer I used for this board still has banding in the black
cartridge. I programmed Dip Trace for a muddy brown which uses the
three color cartridges CMY when I did this board.
I stripped one of the printers down to the chassis cut the chassis
above the feed roller as Stephan suggested, set the whole frame up
about .185" (4.7mm)using PC board spacers and a 4-40 jack screw on the
frame left side.
Curing the MIS ink is as Stephan said critical. Amazing, the wifes
kitchen oven (Jennair) has a digital temperature display. Checked it
with the pyrometer, not only was it 20 F low it had a +-25-30 F spread
above and below the set point, which is all the digital display turned
out to be - a display of set point :). Still I used it to cure this
board because I could play with the temp control as the board was
"cured" to regulate the temp. So the next project is to modify the
toaster oven for curing/reflow.
Lots to do yet, but am excited and wanted to share these initial results.

On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 05:58:49 +0200, jam5411 <mardock@...> wrote:

> in the photos section under JMBoard Images is a photo of my first
> successful Inkjet PC Board! Well yes I am thrilled... This board has
> good runs to 6 mil. 5 and 4 mill would have been OK but the runs broke
> at the pad. Not sure but I attribute this to puddling on the pad and
> the surface tension of the puddle tugging on the ink at the attaching
> run, causing it to thin there.

Yes, i still have similar problems. I am not sure why, but it seems i must
put on much more ink than Volkan. My guess is that the difference might be
he uses all heads and i use only black, but i'm not sure.
Did you use the correct colors in the heads or all filled with yellow?

> Quite a lot of work to get there for me. Took three different C84's
> have found that once the heads are plugged, on some, they are REALLY
> plugged. Soaked them in Steves potion for several weeks and still no
> luck, and in fact am still soaking them. All of them had plugged
> vacuum pump lines if not from the head port to the port support stand
> then from the port support stand through the pump to the "sponge" or
> both! The printer I used for this board still has banding in the black
> cartridge. I programmed Dip Trace for a muddy brown which uses the
> three color cartridges CMY when I did this board.

Hm, mine cleared surprisingly well with steve's cleaner. I just soaked the
pad so it's full and parked the head there a while. But i guess there must
be heads that are too far gone.

> I stripped one of the printers down to the chassis cut the chassis
> above the feed roller as Stephan suggested, set the whole frame up
> about .185" (4.7mm)using PC board spacers and a 4-40 jack screw on the
> frame left side.

That was a good idea, it was kinda tricky to get the height right on the
left for me.

> Curing the MIS ink is as Stephan said critical. Amazing, the wifes
> kitchen oven (Jennair) has a digital temperature display. Checked it
> with the pyrometer, not only was it 20 F low it had a +-25-30 F spread
> above and below the set point, which is all the digital display turned
> out to be - a display of set point :). Still I used it to cure this
> board because I could play with the temp control as the board was
> "cured" to regulate the temp. So the next project is to modify the
> toaster oven for curing/reflow.

Yes, when you have burnt the first board because of the poor control
you'll want that toaster...

I'll need to do more boards this week.

ST

Stefan,

Apologies for the spelling of your name I was up too long...

MIS yellow was/is in all 4 cartridges, with a touch of black for
visability.

The settings for "Best Color" and "matte" were used, which puts out
quite a lot of ink. The areas of the pads in the test had noticeable
puddles, so less ink seems to be in order. Needs experimentation here.

For the jack screw I used two "L" Brackets and a 4/40 with some nuts.
allows adjustment of the left side to keep the head level across its
travel.

Trying to use the existing plastic printer base. Had to raise the head
suction assembly up to keep the head moist when not in use. Seems if
the left protrusions (head suction assembly) are set above the mount
instead of under it the height is about correct. There is a plastic
post on the right side, I drilled and threaded that post bolting the
suction device on top of a spacer. seems to work OK. I agree with you
the design pulls excess ink on startup so I did away with the pump
array. Using a syringe to purge the head.

I should have title this "First successfull ... You would get a kick
of what the first board looked like after the oven, well, cooked it.
But even then as the substrate bubbled there was success. In other
words the cured ink was flexible enough to still act as a resist under
those conditions.

Great fun! I should think this method will supplant the TT method I
have been using, much quicker, more precise with no distortion which
is a pain for the CNC drilling.

Thanks Stefan/Volkan!

John

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
<stefan_trethan@...> wrote:

>
> On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 05:58:49 +0200, jam5411 <mardock@...> wrote:
>
> > in the photos section under JMBoard Images is a photo of my first
> > successful Inkjet PC Board! Well yes I am thrilled... This board has
> > good runs to 6 mil. 5 and 4 mill would have been OK but the runs broke
> > at the pad. Not sure but I attribute this to puddling on the pad and
> > the surface tension of the puddle tugging on the ink at the attaching
> > run, causing it to thin there.
>
> Yes, i still have similar problems. I am not sure why, but it seems

i must

> put on much more ink than Volkan. My guess is that the difference

might be

> he uses all heads and i use only black, but i'm not sure.
> Did you use the correct colors in the heads or all filled with yellow?
>
> > Quite a lot of work to get there for me. Took three different C84's
> > have found that once the heads are plugged, on some, they are REALLY
> > plugged. Soaked them in Steves potion for several weeks and still no
> > luck, and in fact am still soaking them. All of them had plugged
> > vacuum pump lines if not from the head port to the port support stand
> > then from the port support stand through the pump to the "sponge" or
> > both! The printer I used for this board still has banding in the black
> > cartridge. I programmed Dip Trace for a muddy brown which uses the
> > three color cartridges CMY when I did this board.
>
> Hm, mine cleared surprisingly well with steve's cleaner. I just

soaked the

> pad so it's full and parked the head there a while. But i guess

there must

> be heads that are too far gone.
>
> > I stripped one of the printers down to the chassis cut the chassis
> > above the feed roller as Stephan suggested, set the whole frame up
> > about .185" (4.7mm)using PC board spacers and a 4-40 jack screw on the
> > frame left side.
>
> That was a good idea, it was kinda tricky to get the height right on

the

> left for me.
>
> > Curing the MIS ink is as Stephan said critical. Amazing, the wifes
> > kitchen oven (Jennair) has a digital temperature display. Checked it
> > with the pyrometer, not only was it 20 F low it had a +-25-30 F spread
> > above and below the set point, which is all the digital display turned
> > out to be - a display of set point :). Still I used it to cure this
> > board because I could play with the temp control as the board was
> > "cured" to regulate the temp. So the next project is to modify the
> > toaster oven for curing/reflow.
>
> Yes, when you have burnt the first board because of the poor control
> you'll want that toaster...
>
> I'll need to do more boards this week.
>
> ST
>

On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 18:50:12 +0200, jam5411 <mardock@...> wrote:

> The settings for "Best Color" and "matte" were used, which puts out
> quite a lot of ink. The areas of the pads in the test had noticeable
> puddles, so less ink seems to be in order. Needs experimentation here.

I see the same, but if i try to use any less ink it does not fully resist.
I have printed a series of strips on the same PCB offset to each other and
with different printer settings.
Only the matte with photo or best photo (which puts out most ink) would
resist, the others are riddled with gaps and holes.
With what do you etch? I thought the CuCl is the culprit but it was even
worse with FeCl.
Volkan somehow seems to get by with much less ink, thus no puddling.
Maybe it's because he uses the right ink in each slot, i'm a bit puzzled
by this.
Not a problem with simple boards though, but i would like to get it sorted
esp. since volkan's results show he doesn't seem to have the problem.

> For the jack screw I used two "L" Brackets and a 4/40 with some nuts.
> allows adjustment of the left side to keep the head level across its
> travel.
> Trying to use the existing plastic printer base. Had to raise the head
> suction assembly up to keep the head moist when not in use. Seems if
> the left protrusions (head suction assembly) are set above the mount
> instead of under it the height is about correct. There is a plastic
> post on the right side, I drilled and threaded that post bolting the
> suction device on top of a spacer. seems to work OK.

Yes, i have done almost the same. The pad height seems not very critical
since it's spring loaded.

> I agree with you
> the design pulls excess ink on startup so I did away with the pump
> array. Using a syringe to purge the head.

I have found even after weeks of standstill i can get the head 100% firing
with a minimal amount of ink wasted, far less than the printer uses for a
simple clean. If i print frequently (say after a day) the nozzles rarely
clog at all.
The pump is obviously used as a way to ensure a good steady ink
consumption no matter how much you print. The speed at which the ink
counters go down is quite amazing too.

> I should have title this "First successfull ... You would get a kick
> of what the first board looked like after the oven, well, cooked it.
> But even then as the substrate bubbled there was success. In other
> words the cured ink was flexible enough to still act as a resist under
> those conditions.

Yes, but the resulting board is ugly as sin. I've also made those....

> Great fun! I should think this method will supplant the TT method I
> have been using, much quicker, more precise with no distortion which
> is a pain for the CNC drilling.

It seems that way. If only i would have sorted the puddling thing already
it would be nice.

ST

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "jam5411" <mardock@...> wrote:

>

...

> Quite a lot of work to get there for me. Took three different C84's
> have found that once the heads are plugged, on some, they are REALLY
> plugged. Soaked them in Steves potion for several weeks and still no
> luck, and in fact am still soaking them. All of them had plugged
> vacuum pump lines if not from the head port to the port support stand
> then from the port support stand through the pump to the "sponge" or
> both!

The C8x and C6x series, and the all-in-ones that use the same
cartridge, are a real problem with the OEM Durabrite inks. Epson put a
lot of chemistry into getting a pigmented ink that would work on
glossy paper, sadly it seems to dry -really- hard. I have not noticed
an unusual number of complaints when using 3rd party inks.

Steve Greenfield

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "jam5411" <mardock@...> wrote:

>
> Stefan,
>
> Apologies for the spelling of your name I was up too long...
>
> MIS yellow was/is in all 4 cartridges, with a touch of black for
> visability.
>
> The settings for "Best Color" and "matte" were used, which puts out
> quite a lot of ink. The areas of the pads in the test had noticeable
> puddles, so less ink seems to be in order. Needs experimentation here.

More info: Epson uses some kind of resin coating on the Durabrite
color inks. But not on the black. Since the resin coating is there
just so Durabrite pigmented ink will work on glossy paper, if you
specify Glossy paper it will not use any black ink at all, instead
mixing colors to get black. But if you use settings such as Matte or
plain paper, it will use all four colors.

Steve Greenfield

On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 20:12:19 +0200, Steve <alienrelics@...> wrote:

>
> The C8x and C6x series, and the all-in-ones that use the same
> cartridge, are a real problem with the OEM Durabrite inks. Epson put a
> lot of chemistry into getting a pigmented ink that would work on
> glossy paper, sadly it seems to dry -really- hard. I have not noticed
> an unusual number of complaints when using 3rd party inks.
> Steve Greenfield

Mine used 3rd party, that may be the reason it cleaned easily.

ST

On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 20:16:33 +0200, Steve <alienrelics@...> wrote:

> More info: Epson uses some kind of resin coating on the Durabrite
> color inks. But not on the black. Since the resin coating is there
> just so Durabrite pigmented ink will work on glossy paper, if you
> specify Glossy paper it will not use any black ink at all, instead
> mixing colors to get black. But if you use settings such as Matte or
> plain paper, it will use all four colors.
> Steve Greenfield

I have not found that to be the case (no black used for glossy paper
setting) although it will do that for transarency.



ST

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
<stefan_trethan@...> wrote:

>
> On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 20:16:33 +0200, Steve <alienrelics@...> wrote:
>
> > More info: Epson uses some kind of resin coating on the Durabrite
> > color inks. But not on the black. Since the resin coating is there
> > just so Durabrite pigmented ink will work on glossy paper, if you
> > specify Glossy paper it will not use any black ink at all, instead
> > mixing colors to get black. But if you use settings such as Matte or
> > plain paper, it will use all four colors.
> > Steve Greenfield
>
>
> I have not found that to be the case (no black used for glossy paper
> setting) although it will do that for transarency.

I found the info on InkjetArt.com, looking at it again it was
specifically for the C80. Maybe Epson changed the ink used in later
C8x models.
http://www.inkjetart.com/c80/better_blacks.html

Steve Greenfield

Yes, Steve I think Stefan is correct on the usage of the color inks on
the later C8 series.

Back to the PC boards and the inkjet process - I have struggled for
two days trying to produce another PC board but to no avail until
about an hour ago.
A little history if what transpired first. I seems that everytime I
fed a cleaned PC board into the inkjet I would get very small pools of
ink - the ink was not dispersing on the PC board. (I remember
distinctly not seeing that on the sample resolution board I had made,
photographed and uploaded.) Upon etching the resultant board would,
with magnification, have runs that looked like a childs connect the
dots puzzle. In other words were ever there was one of these small
pools there was enough ink that when cured would be a fine resist. But
adjacent to these pools there was not enough ink remaining to form a
resist. What had I done differently on that test board? I went back
through the process over and over in my mind, yes old minds work a bit
more slowly... I found the wipe that I had used in the trash, it had
the consistancy of a lint free paper towel that I used as a final wipe
(after dipping in iso alcohol) but seemed different. Well what I had
done was grab a dried out "Simple Green All Purpose Wipe" that had
been laying on the bench from who knows what. Quickly I prepared
another test board and as a final wipe before inking the board used a
new Simple Green wipe. Viola the deposited ink laid absolutely smooth
on the PC bd stock. Cured it, etched and CNC'd, ready to stuff now. I
can remember thinking at the time I was getting the small pools that
some kind of surfactant was needed but what to use. I am not a chemist
, so cannot explain why this works, just glad it does! I am also sure
that this is not the best answer either but it sure a step in the
right direction. Perhaps some of you that are more in the know can
come up with a better solution?
If any one wants pics let me know and I will take some and upload.
John

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <alienrelics@...> wrote:
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
> <stefan_trethan@> wrote:
> >
> > On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 20:16:33 +0200, Steve <alienrelics@> wrote:
> >
> > > More info: Epson uses some kind of resin coating on the Durabrite
> > > color inks. But not on the black. Since the resin coating is there
> > > just so Durabrite pigmented ink will work on glossy paper, if you
> > > specify Glossy paper it will not use any black ink at all, instead
> > > mixing colors to get black. But if you use settings such as Matte or
> > > plain paper, it will use all four colors.
> > > Steve Greenfield
> >
> >
> > I have not found that to be the case (no black used for glossy paper
> > setting) although it will do that for transarency.
>
> I found the info on InkjetArt.com, looking at it again it was
> specifically for the C80. Maybe Epson changed the ink used in later
> C8x models.
> http://www.inkjetart.com/c80/better_blacks.html
>
> Steve Greenfield
>

Fanatastic!

You are leaving a very thin film of a wetting agent on the surface of the
copper, very similar in concept to the brake fluid.

Accoding to the MSDS the only safety listed ingredient is butyl cellusove.
I'm sure there are other non-listed ingredients also.

For the record, the "cellusolves" are standard solvents used as grease
cutting / cleaning / wetting agents. As a matter of fact, they are the main
ingedient in "Fantastik" spray cleaner, one of the first to use them.

Myc

On 9/21/06, jam5411 <mardock@...> wrote:
>
> Yes, Steve I think Stefan is correct on the usage of the color inks on
> the later C8 series.
>
> Back to the PC boards and the inkjet process - I have struggled for
> two days trying to produce another PC board but to no avail until
> about an hour ago.
> A little history if what transpired first. I seems that everytime I
> fed a cleaned PC board into the inkjet I would get very small pools of
> ink - the ink was not dispersing on the PC board. (I remember
> distinctly not seeing that on the sample resolution board I had made,
> photographed and uploaded.) Upon etching the resultant board would,
> with magnification, have runs that looked like a childs connect the
> dots puzzle. In other words were ever there was one of these small
> pools there was enough ink that when cured would be a fine resist. But
> adjacent to these pools there was not enough ink remaining to form a
> resist. What had I done differently on that test board? I went back
> through the process over and over in my mind, yes old minds work a bit
> more slowly... I found the wipe that I had used in the trash, it had
> the consistancy of a lint free paper towel that I used as a final wipe
> (after dipping in iso alcohol) but seemed different. Well what I had
> done was grab a dried out "Simple Green All Purpose Wipe" that had
> been laying on the bench from who knows what. Quickly I prepared
> another test board and as a final wipe before inking the board used a
> new Simple Green wipe. Viola the deposited ink laid absolutely smooth
> on the PC bd stock. Cured it, etched and CNC'd, ready to stuff now. I
> can remember thinking at the time I was getting the small pools that
> some kind of surfactant was needed but what to use. I am not a chemist
> , so cannot explain why this works, just glad it does! I am also sure
> that this is not the best answer either but it sure a step in the
> right direction. Perhaps some of you that are more in the know can
> come up with a better solution?
> If any one wants pics let me know and I will take some and upload.
> John
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com <Homebrew_PCBs%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "Steve" <alienrelics@...> wrote:
> >
> > --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com <Homebrew_PCBs%40yahoogroups.com>,
> "Stefan Trethan"
> > <stefan_trethan@> wrote:
> > >
> > > On Tue, 19 Sep 2006 20:16:33 +0200, Steve <alienrelics@> wrote:
> > >
> > > > More info: Epson uses some kind of resin coating on the Durabrite
> > > > color inks. But not on the black. Since the resin coating is there
> > > > just so Durabrite pigmented ink will work on glossy paper, if you
> > > > specify Glossy paper it will not use any black ink at all, instead
> > > > mixing colors to get black. But if you use settings such as Matte or
> > > > plain paper, it will use all four colors.
> > > > Steve Greenfield
> > >
> > >
> > > I have not found that to be the case (no black used for glossy paper
> > > setting) although it will do that for transarency.
> >
> > I found the info on InkjetArt.com, looking at it again it was
> > specifically for the C80. Maybe Epson changed the ink used in later
> > C8x models.
> > http://www.inkjetart.com/c80/better_blacks.html
> >
> > Steve Greenfield
> >
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Yes, braking fluid does the same.
I was only able to do a single test with propylene glycol so far but it
seems to work even better (needs confirming).
You can also get a similar effect if you smear around the old ink from a
failed attempt instead of cleaning it off completely.

But still i need to use the highest ink density setting, while Volkan
seems to need much less.

ST

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 00:06:12 +0200, jam5411 <mardock@...> wrote:

> Back to the PC boards and the inkjet process - I have struggled for
> two days trying to produce another PC board but to no avail until
> about an hour ago.
> A little history if what transpired first. I seems that everytime I
> fed a cleaned PC board into the inkjet I would get very small pools of
> ink - the ink was not dispersing on the PC board. (I remember
> distinctly not seeing that on the sample resolution board I had made,
> photographed and uploaded.) Upon etching the resultant board would,
> with magnification, have runs that looked like a childs connect the
> dots puzzle. In other words were ever there was one of these small
> pools there was enough ink that when cured would be a fine resist. But
> adjacent to these pools there was not enough ink remaining to form a
> resist. What had I done differently on that test board? I went back
> through the process over and over in my mind, yes old minds work a bit
> more slowly... I found the wipe that I had used in the trash, it had
> the consistancy of a lint free paper towel that I used as a final wipe
> (after dipping in iso alcohol) but seemed different. Well what I had
> done was grab a dried out "Simple Green All Purpose Wipe" that had
> been laying on the bench from who knows what. Quickly I prepared
> another test board and as a final wipe before inking the board used a
> new Simple Green wipe. Viola the deposited ink laid absolutely smooth
> on the PC bd stock. Cured it, etched and CNC'd, ready to stuff now. I
> can remember thinking at the time I was getting the small pools that
> some kind of surfactant was needed but what to use. I am not a chemist
> , so cannot explain why this works, just glad it does! I am also sure
> that this is not the best answer either but it sure a step in the
> right direction. Perhaps some of you that are more in the know can
> come up with a better solution?
> If any one wants pics let me know and I will take some and upload.
> John

I am in the design phase of the toaster oven controller, should have
it done today, or perhaps tomorrow. When I get the controller portion
done (the board just finished and stuffed was the mains-driver
portion) I will be making a PC board for that. At that time it will be
a simple matter to run out a few more samples with different volumes
of ink being deposited for comparison purposes. I wish there were a
way to gauge from the Epson driver software just how much ink we are
depositing with the different settings. Would be nice to have some
sort of graduated scale like 10 being greatest 1 least then creating
and running samples in between. Does anyone know of a conversion from
the Epson setttings to relative amounts of ink being deposited? Or
perhaps we know that Matte, Best Photo deposits a lot of ink, what
would be the next setting which is slightly less, etc. Hopefully we
can dvise some way to quantitatively determine how much ink we need
for resist. Also not knowing a lot about inks, is it possible that
Volkan might have a heavier pigmented batch of MIS yellow. Might it be
that the yellow might be richer with more pigment but the same
yellow? Just wondering about the consistancey of the product from
batch to batch. Not sure...
John

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Stefan Trethan"
<stefan_trethan@...> wrote:

>
> Yes, braking fluid does the same.
> I was only able to do a single test with propylene glycol so far but

it

> seems to work even better (needs confirming).
> You can also get a similar effect if you smear around the old ink

from a

> failed attempt instead of cleaning it off completely.
>
> But still i need to use the highest ink density setting, while Volkan
> seems to need much less.
>
> ST
>
>
> On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 00:06:12 +0200, jam5411 <mardock@...> wrote:
>
> > Back to the PC boards and the inkjet process - I have struggled for
> > two days trying to produce another PC board but to no avail until
> > about an hour ago.
> > A little history if what transpired first. I seems that everytime I
> > fed a cleaned PC board into the inkjet I would get very small pools of
> > ink - the ink was not dispersing on the PC board. (I remember
> > distinctly not seeing that on the sample resolution board I had made,
> > photographed and uploaded.) Upon etching the resultant board would,
> > with magnification, have runs that looked like a childs connect the
> > dots puzzle. In other words were ever there was one of these small
> > pools there was enough ink that when cured would be a fine resist. But
> > adjacent to these pools there was not enough ink remaining to form a
> > resist. What had I done differently on that test board? I went back
> > through the process over and over in my mind, yes old minds work a bit
> > more slowly... I found the wipe that I had used in the trash, it had
> > the consistancy of a lint free paper towel that I used as a final wipe
> > (after dipping in iso alcohol) but seemed different. Well what I had
> > done was grab a dried out "Simple Green All Purpose Wipe" that had
> > been laying on the bench from who knows what. Quickly I prepared
> > another test board and as a final wipe before inking the board used a
> > new Simple Green wipe. Viola the deposited ink laid absolutely smooth
> > on the PC bd stock. Cured it, etched and CNC'd, ready to stuff now. I
> > can remember thinking at the time I was getting the small pools that
> > some kind of surfactant was needed but what to use. I am not a chemist
> > , so cannot explain why this works, just glad it does! I am also sure
> > that this is not the best answer either but it sure a step in the
> > right direction. Perhaps some of you that are more in the know can
> > come up with a better solution?
> > If any one wants pics let me know and I will take some and upload.
> > John
>

On Fri, 22 Sep 2006 19:43:49 +0200, jam5411 <mardock@...> wrote:

>
> I am in the design phase of the toaster oven controller, should have
> it done today, or perhaps tomorrow. When I get the controller portion
> done (the board just finished and stuffed was the mains-driver
> portion) I will be making a PC board for that. At that time it will be
> a simple matter to run out a few more samples with different volumes
> of ink being deposited for comparison purposes. I wish there were a
> way to gauge from the Epson driver software just how much ink we are
> depositing with the different settings. Would be nice to have some
> sort of graduated scale like 10 being greatest 1 least then creating
> and running samples in between. Does anyone know of a conversion from
> the Epson setttings to relative amounts of ink being deposited? Or
> perhaps we know that Matte, Best Photo deposits a lot of ink, what
> would be the next setting which is slightly less, etc. Hopefully we
> can dvise some way to quantitatively determine how much ink we need
> for resist. Also not knowing a lot about inks, is it possible that
> Volkan might have a heavier pigmented batch of MIS yellow. Might it be
> that the yellow might be richer with more pigment but the same
> yellow? Just wondering about the consistancey of the product from
> batch to batch. Not sure...
> John

You can print out a series of strips with all the settings. I've done that
but haven't kept it and i don't remember in which order they came, but it
was easy to see. Print on the same piece of PCB entering a different
offset each time.

Also there is a calibration procedure that will print bars with the
different "variable droplet size" sizes. Although that may not translate
to any printer settings.

ST