Homebrew PCBs

OK I'm up against it here.  I have a PCB design that is well over 14" long, and the drivers for my HP 4050 refuse to accept any custom paper size over 14" long for some reason.

So am I out of luck here or is there a way to work round this (apart from finding the space for an A3 or roll paper laser printer - if such exist).

Thanks
Dave

On 28/05/2011, at 1:21 AM, David C. Partridge wrote:

> OK I'm up against it here. I have a PCB design that is well over 14" long, and the drivers for my HP 4050 refuse to accept any custom paper size over 14" long for some reason.
> 
> So am I out of luck here or is there a way to work round this (apart from finding the space for an A3 or roll paper laser printer - if such exist).
> 
> Thanks
> Dave
> 
> 

What kind of pitch track work are we talking about? I'd think it shouldn't be too hard to print it in a couple of panels, with some alignment marks in corners, and overlay the pages (taped together with masking tape) as you go through laminator. As long as you're careful trimming the edge of the bottom sheet to the edge of the panel, you should be able to get them pretty well lined up. Then the good old sharpie to fix the small gaps between pages. Probably best to trim both pages so they can butt together, if one page is on top of the other it'll not squash completely flat I reckon, so will leave small gaps between sheets.

Is this a double sided board? I've had problems in the past with large double sided boards, as my printer obviously has some slight stretching in the long direction, which isn't always 100% consistent on different prints, did run into each side transfers not always lining up perfectly.

Andrew
> __,_._


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On 28/05/2011 04:08, Andrew Leech wrote:
>
> On 28/05/2011, at 1:21 AM, David C. Partridge wrote:
>
>> OK I'm up against it here. I have a PCB design that is well over 14" long, and the drivers for my HP 4050 refuse to accept any custom paper size over 14" long for some reason.
>>
>> So am I out of luck here or is there a way to work round this (apart from finding the space for an A3 or roll paper laser printer - if such exist).
>>
>> Thanks
>> Dave
>>
>>
>
> What kind of pitch track work are we talking about? I'd think it shouldn't be too hard to print it in a couple of panels, with some alignment marks in corners, and overlay the pages (taped together with masking tape) as you go through laminator. As long as you're careful trimming the edge of the bottom sheet to the edge of the panel, you should be able to get them pretty well lined up. Then the good old sharpie to fix the small gaps between pages. Probably best to trim both pages so they can butt together, if one page is on top of the other it'll not squash completely flat I reckon, so will leave small gaps between sheets.


I vaguely remember doing that some years ago. It worked quite well.

Leon
-- 
Leon Heller
G1HSM

Try printing your design to an adobe pdf file and then have the pdf
printed out on one of the "kinko's" copier/printers.  I just got done
doing 40 11"x17" boards.


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Just curious, what kind of paper did you use for that?  How please were you
with the results?

Cheers,
John

On Tue, May 31, 2011 at 8:43 AM, Kevin Urbom <urbomb@...> wrote:

>
>
> Try printing your design to an adobe pdf file and then have the pdf
> printed out on one of the "kinko's" copier/printers. I just got done
> doing 40 11"x17" boards.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>  
>


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

I used some 20 lb glossy paper that I got from a printer.They cut it to
size for me. I made the copy on a Sharp color laser printer (real dark
green).   I cleaned the boards and wiped them with a blend of propylene
glycol methyl ether acetate (PM Acetate from Diamond Vogel) and
De-solv-it contractors solvent about 30% Pm acetate and 70% de-solv-it.
Could use CitraSolv alone, but I couldn't get it out here in the sticks.
Citristrip wipe-away works too.  While the boards were still damp, I
placed the copy on the board and ran it through the laminator twice,
then into the oven at 375 degrees for 2 minutes and through the
laminator again.  soak off the image, and etch in 10% Bacquacil pool
shock, 30% muriatic acid, and 60% water.  I uploaded pics to the photos
section under "big boards".  This is the second time that I did this
size boards, but the first time I silk screened them.


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Careful with the color copies/printers. I tried one here at work, and after 3-4 times through the laminator, it was one large blob, kind of like a Roreschark test. Some use either lower temp, or completely different process materials to do the full range of colors. I would stick with B/W laser printers when possible.

Mike

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Kevin Urbom" <urbomb@...> wrote:

>
> placed the copy on the board and ran it through the laminator twice,
> then into the oven at 375 degrees for 2 minutes and through the
> laminator again.  soak off the image, and etch in 10% Bacquacil pool
> shock, 30% muriatic acid, and 60% water.  I uploaded pics to the photos
> section under "big boards".  This is the second time that I did this
> size boards, but the first time I silk screened them.
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Mike, did you by chance use a Xerox Phaser color printer? Some of them use wax rather than toner. I don't really know, certainly not from personal experience, but what you've described sounds like what I would expect the wax from a Phaser to do.

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Mike" <mbushroe@...> wrote:

>
> Careful with the color copies/printers. I tried one here at work, and after 3-4 times through the laminator, it was one large blob, kind of like a Roreschark test. Some use either lower temp, or completely different process materials to do the full range of colors. I would stick with B/W laser printers when possible.
> 
> Mike
> 
> --- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, "Kevin Urbom" <urbomb@> wrote:
> >
> > placed the copy on the board and ran it through the laminator twice,
> > then into the oven at 375 degrees for 2 minutes and through the
> > laminator again.  soak off the image, and etch in 10% Bacquacil pool
> > shock, 30% muriatic acid, and 60% water.  I uploaded pics to the photos
> > section under "big boards".  This is the second time that I did this
> > size boards, but the first time I silk screened them.
> > 
> > 
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>