Homebrew PCBs

I got some samples from Ken off his Brother laser printer, and ran
some tests with my modified laminator.  Basically, at the default of
320F, the brother toner just doesn't stick to the copper.  At 350F
about half of it was sticking, and at 375F nearly all of it was
sticking.  That was with a single pass on 16 mil SS clad, with a
variety of papers.  If I get more time I'll try a multi-pass at 375F,
or maybe reprogram my controller to allow hotter settings.

Hi DJ Delorie 

Could you share how you have made the modified laminator.
I'm using one for aplying dry film.

best regard 
René 
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, DJ Delorie <dj@...> wrote:

>
> 
> I got some samples from Ken off his Brother laser printer, and ran
> some tests with my modified laminator.  Basically, at the default of
> 320F, the brother toner just doesn't stick to the copper.  At 350F
> about half of it was sticking, and at 375F nearly all of it was
> sticking.  That was with a single pass on 16 mil SS clad, with a
> variety of papers.  If I get more time I'll try a multi-pass at 375F,
> or maybe reprogram my controller to allow hotter settings.
>

"reneske" <reneske@...> writes:
> Could you share how you have made the modified laminator.
> I'm using one for aplying dry film.

http://www.delorie.com/electronics/laminator/

I replaced the bimetallic switch with a thermocouple and triac, and
used an mcu with a potentiometer and LCD to control it.

DJ Delorie wrote:
> 
> http://www.delorie.com/electronics/laminator/
> 
> I replaced the bimetallic switch with a thermocouple and triac, and
> used an mcu with a potentiometer and LCD to control it.
>
DJ 
Do you have a photo of the completed controller showing the LCD in operation.

Cheers
Warren

"warrenbrayshaw" <warrenbrayshaw@...> writes:
> Do you have a photo of the completed controller showing the LCD in operation.

Ok, ok, I'll take pictures ;-)

http://www.delorie.com/electronics/laminator/

The left button is units (F/C).  The right button is display mode:
temp, runtime, "time at temperature", and current duty cycle.  The big
black knob is the temperature setting.

DJ Delorie  wrote:
>
> Ok, ok, I'll take pictures ;-)
> 
> http://www.delorie.com/electronics/laminator/
> 
> The left button is units (F/C).  The right button is display mode:
> temp, runtime, "time at temperature", and current duty cycle.  The big
> black knob is the temperature setting.
>
Thanks that's great
That's a clever °F custom character.

I had been turning down that laminator because I thought it would not be good enough so the picture has been valuable.

"warrenbrayshaw" <warrenbrayshaw@...> writes:
> I had been turning down that laminator because I thought it would
> not be good enough so the picture has been valuable.

Well, it does have the drawback that the rollers aren't spring-loaded.
They're sitting in a fixed moulded bracket, and the roller surface
itself has a little give.  That's why it can't handle 64 mil PCBs.
But I use mostly 16 mil SS anyway so it's not a problem for me.

DJ, did you write the control program in C or in assembler? How would you feel about sharing the program? Please don't hesitate to say no -- I will certainly understand if there is anything proprietary or that you want to hold onto. I ask because I am getting ready to order a couple of R8C-27's to experiment with and would like to get some ideas about programming them.

Thanks,

Andy

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, DJ Delorie <dj@...> wrote:

> Ok, ok, I'll take pictures ;-)
> 
> http://www.delorie.com/electronics/laminator/
> 
> The left button is units (F/C).  The right button is display mode:
> temp, runtime, "time at temperature", and current duty cycle.  The big
> black knob is the temperature setting.
>

Boy Andy - Did DJ come thru with all the info to build his temperature controller? I was just browsing his link - that is everything there from BOM, PCB, with complete layout - including hole count for eVERY hole on the board... all 105 of them...  I'm not sure I can drill a .015 hole - that's tiny!

Even the software source is there.  I'm not sure I can figure all that out - I've only did a tiny bit with AVR chips.

Thank you DJ.

73 de Ken H>

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "awakephd" <a_wake@...> wrote:

>
> DJ, did you write the control program in C or in assembler? How would you feel about sharing the program? Please don't hesitate to say no -- I will certainly understand if there is anything proprietary or that you want to hold onto. I ask because I am getting ready to order a couple of R8C-27's to experiment with and would like to get some ideas about programming them.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Andy
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, DJ Delorie <dj@> wrote:
> > Ok, ok, I'll take pictures ;-)
> > 
> > http://www.delorie.com/electronics/laminator/
> > 
> > The left button is units (F/C).  The right button is display mode:
> > temp, runtime, "time at temperature", and current duty cycle.  The big
> > black knob is the temperature setting.
> >
>

"awakephd" <a_wake@...> writes:

> DJ, did you write the control program in C or in assembler?

C, mostly.

> How would you feel about sharing the program?

It's already on my web site, so I guess I feel OK with sharing it.

Oops! My face is red -- for some reason my eyes had skipped right over that. Thanks for sharing the code!!

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, DJ Delorie <dj@...> wrote:

>
> "awakephd" <a_wake@...> writes:
> 
> > DJ, did you write the control program in C or in assembler?
> 
> C, mostly.
> 
> > How would you feel about sharing the program?
> 
> It's already on my web site, so I guess I feel OK with sharing it.
>