Homebrew_PCBs

I'm pondering building a etching tank that superficially resembles an ant
farm:

Cut two sheets of acrylic to make the broad sides of the tank, say, 8" x
12". Add one inch to the width. Take four pieces of .5" square acrylic
rod, each the desired height of the tank (say, 8 inches). Glue two
together lengthwise to create a .5" x 1" rod. Repeat with the other two
rods. Glue these pieces to the edges of the broadside pieces. Then glue
the thing to another piece of acrylic to make a base. Perhaps make a lid
with a couple more pieces of acrylic sheet.

Is this a good idea?

--
David Griffith
dgriffi@...

A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?

On 12/01/2010 00:23, David Griffith wrote:

> I'm pondering building a etching tank that superficially resembles an ant
> farm:
>
> Cut two sheets of acrylic to make the broad sides of the tank, say, 8" x
> 12". Add one inch to the width. Take four pieces of .5" square acrylic
> rod, each the desired height of the tank (say, 8 inches). Glue two
> together lengthwise to create a .5" x 1" rod. Repeat with the other two
> rods. Glue these pieces to the edges of the broadside pieces. Then glue
> the thing to another piece of acrylic to make a base. Perhaps make a lid
> with a couple more pieces of acrylic sheet.
>
> Is this a good idea?
>

Velleman sells something like that. I've got one but it doesn't work
very well so I've gone back to manual agitation which gives excellent
results.

Leon

I would think a horizontal tank would be better than a vertical one.

--
Paul Mateer, AA9GG
Elan Engineering Corp.
www.elanengr.com
NAQCC 3123, SKCC 4628, FPQRP 2003

I have a glass tank about 30mm wide. I gave up on lexan because it was
too difficult to glue with what I had on hand. Glass was easy with
silicone. It has an air bubbler inside and works very well.

The PCB holder is made of two flat plastic parts, a section of bicycle
inner tube as a rubber band, and a titanium rod ground to a wedge
shape. The titanium rod is rotated with a lever to force the clamps
apart, allowing me to insert the PCB without getting any etchant on
myself (the titanium rod has a bushing through the lid). Titanium is
the only (reasonable) metal to hold up in CuCl, it was very
interesting to grind and cut. Probably a good plastic rod would have
done too, but is much less fun.

The tank holds the etchant all year and is basically ready to go any
time. Very low maintainance.

Whatever you do, put your tank in a plastic box large enough to catch
any spillage. I had two previous tanks spring a leak on me. Making
your end panels a triangular shape gives the tank stability on a large
base plate, highly recommended to avoid tipping over.

ST

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 1:23 AM, David Griffith <dgriffi@...> wrote:
>
> I'm pondering building a etching tank that superficially resembles an ant
> farm:
>
> Cut two sheets of acrylic to make the broad sides of the tank, say, 8" x
> 12". Add one inch to the width. Take four pieces of .5" square acrylic
> rod, each the desired height of the tank (say, 8 inches). Glue two
> together lengthwise to create a .5" x 1" rod. Repeat with the other two
> rods. Glue these pieces to the edges of the broadside pieces. Then glue
> the thing to another piece of acrylic to make a base. Perhaps make a lid
> with a couple more pieces of acrylic sheet.
>
> Is this a good idea?
>
> --
> David Griffith
> dgriffi@...
>
> A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
> Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
> A: Top-posting.
> Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBsYahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

With the vertical a small volume of bubbles from a linear bubbler
travels over most of the PCB.
It also exposes a smaller surface area of etchant to the air for
evaporation (minor point).

With horizontal boards trapped air bubbles on the underside are an issue.

Sure can do, actually better I don't think.

ST

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 5:49 PM, Paul Mateer <paul.aa9gg@...> wrote:
> I would think a horizontal tank would be better than a vertical one.
>
> --
> Paul Mateer, AA9GG
> Elan Engineering Corp.
> www.elanengr.com
> NAQCC 3123, SKCC 4628, FPQRP 2003
>

Dear Paul Mateer

I share an A3 sized vertical tank for over 20 years with a friend, we do not use it that often nowadays sadly!

But I can say that a horizontal tank will only be OK for single sided boards. Double sided need a vertical tank with plently of bubbles of air to keep the etchant working on both sides at the same rate.

I have never done it, but I would imagine it difficult to keep both sides etching at the same rate.....

regards

Andy
-------------------------------------------------------
I would think a horizontal tank would be better than a vertical one.

--
Paul Mateer, AA9GG
Elan Engineering Corp.
www.elanengr.com
NAQCC 3123, SKCC 4628, FPQRP 2003






Greetings from

Andy Mathison

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