Homebrew PCBs

Hi All,

I am considering buying a laser printer for home that I can use for PCB 
printing as well using toner transfer method. The printer I have in 
mind is Samsung ML2010. Has anyone used it for PCB's? Is it recommended 
for that?

Thank you for your help

Elia

Hi All,

I am considering buying a laser printer for home that I can use for PCB 
printing as well using toner transfer method. The printer I have in 
mind is Samsung ML2010. Has anyone used it for PCB's? Is it recommended 
for that?

Thank you for your help

Elia

Hi Elia,

I bought the ML-2010 printer and have been having good results so far. I'm
very happy with it considering the price - it costs about $70 in australia.
Its the only printer I've used for toner transfer so I can't compare it to
others.

The main thing is to get the right paper - the best thing i have found so
far is some advertising brocures from a local computer store. They are quite
thin, and glossy (but not super glossy). They soak off the board easily. I
need to perfect my technique, i've had some variable results like pitted
traces, or sometimes smeared traces. And sometimes it works out perfectly. I
suspect that this is to do with pressure and/or temperature. Currently my
method is this:
1. I put the pcb on an old book, and lay the printout on top of it, and lay
baking paper on top of that
2. I sit an iron at full temperature on top of this and leave it for a few
minutes, not pressing, until the board is nice and hot
3. I then remove the iron and carefully roll a rolling pin over it in
several directions to get it evenly stuck onto the board. Be careful not to
smear
4. At this point i just drop the board into cold water, wait a minute for
the paper to soften up a bit, and then start rubbing the paper with my
fingers to remove it from the board. The toner is usually pretty well stuck,
if you find that the toner comes off then you probably need more heat or
pressure.
5. Check the results, make sure you get rid of any remaining paper fibers.
If it looks smudged or pitted, try again.

With this method i've done some .5mm pitch tqfps.

I havent run out of toner yet, but i've probably only printed about 20 pages
- i only use it for pcbs! If you're going to actually print documents, then
you might want to check the cost of the toner (probably more than the
printer). Also i dont recommend trying transparencies, i put one in the
other day which is supposedly laser-printable and it got totally melted and
wrapped around the fuser, and was quite difficult to extract. Fortunately
the printer seems to have survived. I read on this group that the toner in
these printers has a higher melting point than others, the warning sticker
on the fuser says 180 degrees c.

Good luck...

James.

On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 10:20 PM, eliamady <eliamady123@...> wrote:

>   Hi All,
>
> I am considering buying a laser printer for home that I can use for PCB
> printing as well using toner transfer method. The printer I have in
> mind is Samsung ML2010. Has anyone used it for PCB's? Is it recommended
> for that?
>
> Thank you for your help
>
> Elia
>
>  
>


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

Hi James,

Thank you for your reply, the reason I was interested in this printer 
is obviously the price. Here in the UK it is £42.72 and comes with a 
1000 prints cartridge. A 3000 prints cartridge costs £55.64 which is 
still ok!

I will be using it for PCB's and the occasional letter/document so I 
am sure the ink will last me for quite a while.

Since you've had good results with it then no reason why I shouldn't 
give it a try.

Thanks,
Elia

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "James Bishop" <bishopaj@...> 
wrote:
>
> Hi Elia,
> 
> I bought the ML-2010 printer and have been having good results so 
far. I'm
> very happy with it considering the price - it costs about $70 in 
australia.
> Its the only printer I've used for toner transfer so I can't 
compare it to
> others.
> 
> The main thing is to get the right paper - the best thing i have 
found so
> far is some advertising brocures from a local computer store. They 
are quite
> thin, and glossy (but not super glossy). They soak off the board 
easily. I
> need to perfect my technique, i've had some variable results like 
pitted
> traces, or sometimes smeared traces. And sometimes it works out 
perfectly. I
> suspect that this is to do with pressure and/or temperature. 
Currently my
> method is this:
> 1. I put the pcb on an old book, and lay the printout on top of it, 
and lay
> baking paper on top of that
> 2. I sit an iron at full temperature on top of this and leave it 
for a few
> minutes, not pressing, until the board is nice and hot
> 3. I then remove the iron and carefully roll a rolling pin over it 
in
> several directions to get it evenly stuck onto the board. Be 
careful not to
> smear
> 4. At this point i just drop the board into cold water, wait a 
minute for
> the paper to soften up a bit, and then start rubbing the paper with 
my
> fingers to remove it from the board. The toner is usually pretty 
well stuck,
> if you find that the toner comes off then you probably need more 
heat or
> pressure.
> 5. Check the results, make sure you get rid of any remaining paper 
fibers.
> If it looks smudged or pitted, try again.
> 
> With this method i've done some .5mm pitch tqfps.
> 
> I havent run out of toner yet, but i've probably only printed about 
20 pages
> - i only use it for pcbs! If you're going to actually print 
documents, then
> you might want to check the cost of the toner (probably more than 
the
> printer). Also i dont recommend trying transparencies, i put one in 
the
> other day which is supposedly laser-printable and it got totally 
melted and
> wrapped around the fuser, and was quite difficult to extract. 
Fortunately
> the printer seems to have survived. I read on this group that the 
toner in
> these printers has a higher melting point than others, the warning 
sticker
> on the fuser says 180 degrees c.
> 
> Good luck...
> 
> James.
> 
> On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 10:20 PM, eliamady <eliamady123@...> wrote:
> 
> >   Hi All,
> >
> > I am considering buying a laser printer for home that I can use 
for PCB
> > printing as well using toner transfer method. The printer I have 
in
> > mind is Samsung ML2010. Has anyone used it for PCB's? Is it 
recommended

> > for that?
> >
> > Thank you for your help
> >
> > Elia
> >
> >  
> >
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>