Homebrew PCBs

I know, someone else has already thought of this but if not, here is 
an idea.

A while back I suggested the possibility of an altered ink jet 
printer that could be used to print resist onto a circuit board.

Another idea I had was to use a plotter (or even a CNC machine) and 
a resist pen to draw out the resist areas.  I have not used a resist 
pen yet, so I don't even know how fine of a line you can draw with 
them but I think you get the idea.

I know, you are thinking "If I have a CNC router, why not just mill 
the trace outlines". I agree, but I am just wondering which would be 
more efficient with regard to time and tooling.  Those little mills 
are pretty pricy and I would guess they don't last very long.  But, 
at the same time, I am not sure of the cost of etchants and resist 
pens.

Just some thoughts I need to share and ponder.

On Mon, 27 Jun 2005 18:45:49 +0200, lcdpublishing  
<lcdpublishing@...> wrote:

>
> Another idea I had was to use a plotter (or even a CNC machine) and
> a resist pen to draw out the resist areas.  I have not used a resist
> pen yet, so I don't even know how fine of a line you can draw with
> them but I think you get the idea.


tried it with a plotter, couldn't get the line width i need with felt  
pens, couldn't get resisting layer with carbide pens. Takes ages to plot.

ST

The problems with using an inkjet seems to be clogging
the head as well as wetting out the copper with the
ink.

I thought that using photoresist as the "ink" then
curing it with UV, might be a solution. That would
take care of the 'wetting out' and adhesion to the
copper problem. Just never had a chance to try it

I've been successful with toner transfer with a
laminator, but think inkjet printing would be neat.

Myc

--- lcdpublishing <lcdpublishing@...> wrote:

> I know, someone else has already thought of this but
> if not, here is 
> an idea.
> 
> A while back I suggested the possibility of an
> altered ink jet 
> printer that could be used to print resist onto a
> circuit board.
> 
> Another idea I had was to use a plotter (or even a
> CNC machine) and 
> a resist pen to draw out the resist areas.  I have
> not used a resist 
> pen yet, so I don't even know how fine of a line you
> can draw with 
> them but I think you get the idea.
> 
> I know, you are thinking "If I have a CNC router,
> why not just mill 
> the trace outlines". I agree, but I am just
> wondering which would be 
> more efficient with regard to time and tooling. 
> Those little mills 
> are pretty pricy and I would guess they don't last
> very long.  But, 
> at the same time, I am not sure of the cost of
> etchants and resist 
> pens.
> 
> Just some thoughts I need to share and ponder.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 


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