Homebrew PCBs

I was discussing using a household clothes iron to apply toner resist
with a friend of mine, and discovered he had a heat press - the kind
that puts iron on transfer designs on T shirts.  Since I was very
unhappy with the household iron technique, I took him up on his offer
of trying it out on his press.  We preheated the press to 300 Degrees
Farhenheit, and placed the circuit board and magazine paper in the
press between 2 pieces of printer paper.  We got to talking about
other things, and wound up leaving it in the press for 6 minutes.  
The design transferred real well, but it also had penetrated the
magazine's paper.  As a result, I had to soak the paper for over a
half hour, and even then some of the toner was rubbed off with the
paper, and  I couldn't rub some of the paper off of the toner.  
It etched real well.  I had a plastic tub about an inch shorter than
the board, so I put a small amount of etchant in the bottom of the tub
and used a natural bristle brush to "brush on" etchant at the highest
point of the board.
If I had it to do over again, I would try 2 or 3 minutes in the press
maximum.  I feel the toner wound up spreading out some and losing
resolution when I left it in too long.  It's still perfectly usable,
just not as pretty as it could be.

why didn't you use the 'oops' process of removing the
cuasi-failed process and start over?
magazine paper shouldn't be too expensive to discard....
why did you insist in rubbing and etching something you
knew beforehand was less than good?

--- Jim Reed <jsreed@...> wrote:

> I was discussing using a household clothes iron to apply
> toner resist
> with a friend of mine, and discovered he had a heat press
> - the kind
> that puts iron on transfer designs on T shirts.  Since I
> was very
> unhappy with the household iron technique, I took him up
> on his offer
> of trying it out on his press.  We preheated the press to
> 300 Degrees
> Farhenheit, and placed the circuit board and magazine
> paper in the
> press between 2 pieces of printer paper.  We got to
> talking about
> other things, and wound up leaving it in the press for 6
> minutes.  
> The design transferred real well, but it also had
> penetrated the
> magazine's paper.  As a result, I had to soak the paper
> for over a
> half hour, and even then some of the toner was rubbed off
> with the
> paper, and  I couldn't rub some of the paper off of the
> toner.  
> It etched real well.  I had a plastic tub about an inch
> shorter than
> the board, so I put a small amount of etchant in the
> bottom of the tub
> and used a natural bristle brush to "brush on" etchant at
> the highest
> point of the board.
> If I had it to do over again, I would try 2 or 3 minutes
> in the press
> maximum.  I feel the toner wound up spreading out some
> and losing
> resolution when I left it in too long.  It's still
> perfectly usable,
> just not as pretty as it could be.



       
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If my only goal was to make a pretty board, I would have started over again. 
  Since my goal was to make a PC board, learn a little, and use the 
circuitry I didn't feel the extra night expended was worth it.  I only 
posted so others might gain from my experiences:
1. the household iron doesn't work well at all (I had already spent a couple 
of nights trying)
2. I didn't have to modify a brand new laminator
3. I didn't use an expensive or complicated etching setup
Have a nice day.


>
>why didn't you use the 'oops' process of removing the
>cuasi-failed process and start over?
>magazine paper shouldn't be too expensive to discard....
>why did you insist in rubbing and etching something you
>knew beforehand was less than good?
>

  It's still
> > perfectly usable,
> > just not as pretty as it could be.
>
>
>
>
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--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "James Reed" <jsreed@...> wrote:
>
> If my only goal was to make a pretty board, I would have started
over again. 


Thanks!  That is helpful info. I have inherited a fairly substantial
'dry mount' press once used for mounting photographs.  I believe that
the brand is 'Seal'.  I was afraid it might not get hot enough, but I
believe that it will do 300 F easily.

Any magazines that you would recommend? ...

-- Dave

Hi, My name is Jose Kovacevich. This is my first post.

I have been making PCBs for some time now. Lately I have been using 
a heat press, of the kind used for t-shirts, and the Staples paper.

I set the press to 200 deg (centigrade), and in 60 seconds, I get a 
perfect transfer almost every time (a couple times there were small 
track sections in the edges not getting transfered, easily fixed 
with permanent marker).

By the way, I am from Monterrey, Mexico.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Jim Reed" <jsreed@...> wrote:
>
> I was discussing using a household clothes iron to apply toner 
resist
> with a friend of mine, and discovered he had a heat press - the 
kind
> that puts iron on transfer designs on T shirts.  Since I was very
> unhappy with the household iron technique, I took him up on his 
offer
> of trying it out on his press.  We preheated the press to 300 
Degrees
> Farhenheit, and placed the circuit board and magazine paper in the
> press between 2 pieces of printer paper.  We got to talking about
> other things, and wound up leaving it in the press for 6 minutes.  
> The design transferred real well, but it also had penetrated the
> magazine's paper.  As a result, I had to soak the paper for over a
> half hour, and even then some of the toner was rubbed off with the
> paper, and  I couldn't rub some of the paper off of the toner.  
> It etched real well.  I had a plastic tub about an inch shorter 
than
> the board, so I put a small amount of etchant in the bottom of the 
tub
> and used a natural bristle brush to "brush on" etchant at the 
highest
> point of the board.
> If I had it to do over again, I would try 2 or 3 minutes in the 
press
> maximum.  I feel the toner wound up spreading out some and losing
> resolution when I left it in too long.  It's still perfectly 
usable,
> just not as pretty as it could be.
>

"jose_kovacevich" <jose_kovacevich@...> writes:
> perfect transfer almost every time (a couple times there were small 
> track sections in the edges not getting transfered, easily fixed 
> with permanent marker).

I always add a thick "guard trace" around the outside of the board's
outline to avoid edge-related problems.  It mostly keeps the TT paper
from peeling off an important trace when I dump it into the water.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "jose_kovacevich"
<jose_kovacevich@...> wrote:
>
> Hi, My name is Jose Kovacevich. This is my first post.
> 
> I have been making PCBs for some time now. Lately I have been using 
> a heat press, of the kind used for t-shirts, and the Staples paper.
>
Jose, are you referring to Staples printer paper or a heat transfer paper?

200 degrees at 60 seconds sounds like it might be much less
problamatic than 300 degrees at a couple of minutes.

Do you have any pictures of your process in action or the results?

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Jim Reed" <jsreed@...> wrote:
>
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "jose_kovacevich"
> <jose_kovacevich@> wrote:
> >
> > Hi, My name is Jose Kovacevich. This is my first post.
> > 
> > I have been making PCBs for some time now. Lately I have been using 
> > a heat press, of the kind used for t-shirts, and the Staples paper.
> >
> Jose, are you referring to Staples printer paper or a heat transfer
paper?
> 
> 200 degrees at 60 seconds sounds like it might be much less
> problamatic than 300 degrees at a couple of minutes.
> 
> Do you have any pictures of your process in action or the results?
>
OOPS.  I just realized you wrote 200 degrees CENTIGRADE.  That's
almost 400 degrees Fahrenheit.  The press I used topped out at 300
degree F.

Yes, it is 200 degrees centigrade, and the paper is
the Staples "photo basic gloss", as advised by others
here.

Also, good idea the use of the guard trace. I will try
it the next time. I at most have been using a minimum
of 10 mil tracks.

Sorry I dont have pictures at this moment, I will try
to take them and post the next time I make a board.

By the way, the press I am using was purchased for
other use (dye sublimation transfer on t-shirts and
other items), and I put it also to use for PCBs, as it
is a $500-$600 press (I would have not purchased it
only for PCBs).




       
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I've just purchased a small heat press with a 4" by 8" pressing area.
It has a built-in thermometer which reaches a maximum of 250 degrees
(I presume degrees F since it was made in the US.)

The technique which I've discovered works well is as follows:

- let heat press warm up to operating temperature
- pre-heat copper board in heat press for about 15 secs.
- place toner image on copper board - I use magazine paper
- apply heat for about 10 secs
- run over the board with a small roller to ensure good thermal contact
- remove board from press and allow it to cool; remove magazine
  paper by running water over it

Magazine paper comes off very easily with water - just a little
rubbing with your thumb will take it off. Also, applying heat for more
than 10 secs runs the risk of enlarging your traces. Currently I'm
applying the heat press directly onto the magazine paper, but I'm
interested in using some sort of intermediate layer to help spread the
heat and ensure good thermal contact.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "circuitmangler" 
<erantapaa@...> wrote:
>
> 
> I've just purchased a small heat press with a 4" by 8" pressing 
area.
> It has a built-in thermometer which reaches a maximum of 250 degrees
> (I presume degrees F since it was made in the US.)
> 
> The technique which I've discovered works well is as follows:
> 
> - let heat press warm up to operating temperature
> - pre-heat copper board in heat press for about 15 secs.
> - place toner image on copper board - I use magazine paper
> - apply heat for about 10 secs
> - run over the board with a small roller to ensure good thermal 
contact
> - remove board from press and allow it to cool; remove magazine
>   paper by running water over it
> 
> Magazine paper comes off very easily with water - just a little
> rubbing with your thumb will take it off. Also, applying heat for 
more
> than 10 secs runs the risk of enlarging your traces. Currently I'm
> applying the heat press directly onto the magazine paper, but I'm
> interested in using some sort of intermediate layer to help spread 
the
> heat and ensure good thermal contact.
>
I'd be interested in the brand and source of this heat press. Any 
other info you could provide would be helpful.

Bill H

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "bill heverly" <wheverly@...> wrote:

> I'd be interested in the brand and source of this heat press. Any 
> other info you could provide would be helpful.
> 
> Bill H

I got it on ebay. It says "Pics n' Names" and "Tyke Corporation,
Chicago, Il." on it.

Here are some pics - hopefully these links will work for you:

http://i17.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/a4/c8/a2be_1.JPG
http://i2.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/a4/c8/aec6_1.JPG
http://i16.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/a4/c8/b7bb_1.JPG

The dial on the side is a simple timer you can set to ring a bell when
it expires. The thermometer is located on the heating block.