Homebrew_PCBs

> There is a solder paste of some sort that is used on surface mount
> circuit boards. Once that material hardens (dries, cures, or whatever
> it does) is is hard and conductive? Could it be used to create a
> trace on a board, and then allow for soldering to it?
> Chris

----- Original Message -----
From: "lcdpublishing" <lcdpublishing@...>
To: <Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 3:48 PM
Subject: [Homebrew_PCBs] Hmm, another thought....


> There is a solder paste of some sort that is used on surface mount
> circuit boards. Once that material hardens (dries, cures, or whatever
> it does) is is hard and conductive? Could it be used to create a
> trace on a board, and then allow for soldering to it?

It won't adhere properly to the board surface and will just melt when it is
heated and form little balls of solder.

Leon



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> On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 16:48:24 +0200, lcdpublishing
> <lcdpublishing@y...> wrote:
>
> > There is a solder paste of some sort that is used on surface

> > circuit boards. Once that material hardens (dries, cures, or

> > it does) is is hard and conductive? Could it be used to create a
> > trace on a board, and then allow for soldering to it?
> > Chris
>
>
> solder paste for SMD is just solder "dust" and flux mixed to a

> must be soldered (melted) to work, and it would bead up with no

> under it.
>
> There is conductive epoxy, and various conductive paints, some of

> can be soldered to, but i believe it will be a number of years

> can be used.
>
> For now i'll concentrate on EDM, as this is most promising.
>
> ST

> I have to admit, the EDM process sounds very interesting. I am 99%
> certain it could be easily adapted to any existing CNC router (or
> mill). My fear is the power supply - I don't know enough yet about
> the electronics to make the power supply. By chance, do you have
> that link to the information you and the other fellow were talking
> about a couple of days ago? I guess I should look that over to see
> if it is basic enough for me to understand it.
> Chris

> On Fri, 01 Jul 2005 18:00:58 +0200, lcdpublishing
> <lcdpublishing@y...> wrote:
>
> > I have to admit, the EDM process sounds very interesting. I am 99%
> > certain it could be easily adapted to any existing CNC router (or
> > mill). My fear is the power supply - I don't know enough yet about
> > the electronics to make the power supply. By chance, do you have
> > that link to the information you and the other fellow were talking
> > about a couple of days ago? I guess I should look that over to see
> > if it is basic enough for me to understand it.
> > Chris
>
>
> <http://cscott.net/Projects/FabClass/final/edesign1.html#schematic>
>
> ST

--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, JanRwl@A... wrote:
>
> In a message dated 7/1/2005 9:49:57 A.M. Central Daylight Time,
> lcdpublishing@y... writes:
>
> Once that material hardens (dries, cures, or whatever
> it does) is is hard and conductive? Could it be used to create a
> trace on a board, and then allow for soldering to it?
>
>
>
> Chris: What part of "SOLDER paste" don't you understand?
(LOL!!!) The
> stuff is made of flux and thousands of microscopic balls of
SOLDER, would you
> believe! It is "paste" so it can be PAINTED on, and it MELTS
and "solders
> things" (becomes shiny solder) which hardens by COOLING to the
non-molten state
> when the heat goes away. SIMPLE! No, it can NOT be used
to "make traces", as
> it would not adhere to the epoxy board, AND even if it did, it
would MELT
> AWAY as soon as you tried to solder a resistor to it! (HOPE
you don't get
> miffed by my sense of humor?)
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

> Chris,
>
> I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that we are ALL

> the easiest way to put them thar darned traces on a PC board. :D
>
> I'm also relatively new to the whole world of electronics, and

> tried to find 'that special thing nobody thought of yet'. Well,

> learned that pretty much everything has been tried. The only

> tested are with new technologies, and those are not readily

> Etchant, transfer paper, silicone paper, toilet paper, direct

> routing, name it, someone here has tried it.
>
> The nice thing is that the experimentation is an important step.

> the drilling station I'm building, if I had bought the ready-made

> from Xylotex (like that cheater Willem :P ), I would not have

> about center-tap transformers and unipolar/bipolar steppers.
>
> I'm also welding my own frame, so I'm going to get back into that
> technology. Shop class is a few decades behind me now, again,

> more stuff (unlike that cheater Willem :P ). I'll take longer

> running, but I'll have learned a lot from it. As long as I come

> than that Sherline kit on Xylotex's site, I'm happy. Somehow I

> blow $1250 USD on this venture.
>
> Did I mention Willem cheated? He's gonna paint a Sherline blue

> built it...
>
> Robert
> :)
>
>
> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com

> la part de lcdpublishing
> Envoyé : juillet 1 2005 17:11
> À : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
> Objet : [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Hmm, another thought....
>
>
> Jan, worry not, I very much enjoy a good sense of humor!
>
> As I am completely new to electronics and circuit board making

> I have a very open mind to consider anything and everything. Some
> how a number of years back, I learned that one MUST ASK about
> everything,no matter how trivial. In this case, I think it is
> pretty obvious I am looking for an alternative method of making
> circuit boards. Nearly all, if not all, of the current processes
> are subtractive processes, I am just looking at it from a

> point of view such as an additive process.
>
> But, PLEASE, keep up the humor, it is a whole lot more fun
> investigating this sort of thing when we can share some grins!
>
> Chris
>
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files,

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
>
> If Files or Photos are running short of space, post them here:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs_Archives/
> Yahoo! Groups Links

> The only things not
> tested are with new technologies, and those are not readily available.
> Etchant, transfer paper, silicone paper, toilet paper, direct transfer,
> CNC
> routing, name it, someone here has tried it.

> Only EDM, nobody has tried that apart from Curt. There seem to be

> industrial applications to make PCBs that i can find.
> It uses electricity, loads of it, makes fire, under water, and

> all, that is worth it all by itself, if it does produce a PCB in

> process i don't mind either. You can't get much better than that.

> direct "copper" printing wouldn't be easier as blank PCB without

> very hard to get, so either etch it off or pay more...
>
> By the way, do you have any idea how Willem can build his machine

> He must have loads of experience... ;-)
>
> ST

>Stefan,
>
>I looked over that schematic for the power supply - ouch, my head
>hurts from all the complexity of it. I think I will have to wait a
>while before I have enough "Smarts" to understand it. Now if I
>could do all that with a PIC I might have a fighting chance :-)
>
>
>

> I don't think the power supply has to be that complicated for this
> application. Many moons ago I used to own a Sincleir ZX81 computer. The
> Sinclair printer used special paper that was basically a thin coating of
> aliminium over a black background. The printer used a toothed belt to
> drag a metal stylus over the paper and wherever it needed to print a dot
> it applied a voltage to the stylus and vapourised the coating. Being a
> Sinclair product you can be sure the circuitry was very basic. Our needs
> are very similar, the only real difference is that the coating is
> thicker.
> Normal EDM needs a carefully designed power supply because each spark
> removes a very small amount of material. We don't need that kind of
> accuracy so we can use a much higher energy density. I think that if we
> use a large capacitor and keep it charged through a simple linear power
> supply the sparking will be pretty much self regulating. All we need is
> a big beefy transistor to turn on the power when we want to remove
> material. The transistor does not need to switch for every spark, it is
> simply held on for as long as we need to remove copper. As a kid I used
> to cut patterns in aluminium foil using just a 12V car battery as the
> power source and it worked quite well.
> Les

> Being a Sinclair product you can be sure the circuitry was very basic.

>Stefan,
>
>I looked over that schematic for the power supply - ouch, my head
>hurts from all the complexity of it. I think I will have to wait a
>while before I have enough "Smarts" to understand it. Now if I
>could do all that with a PIC I might have a fighting chance :-)
>
>
>

>Oh, that kind of power supply.
>
>"As a kid I used to cut patterns in aluminium foil using just a 12V car
>battery as the
>power source and it worked quite well."
>
>You do realize how much amperage comes out of a car battery?
>
>Robert
>:)
>
>
>

> Hi Robert,
> Sorry for the late reply. Yes I know all about the current car batteries
> can supply, I still have the scars to prove it (NEVER work on a car
> wearing a metal watch strap). However in this case I was using fairly
> thin wires and they didn't get hot.
> Les

> One thing I will always
> remember in auto mechanics is ALWAYS disconnect the positive terminal at
> the
> battery (usually red, from all the blood splattering on it I guess).

> Yeah, removing negative is much better, I posted the wrong

> also doesn't generate sparks when you're fiddling with it.
>
> Don't rely on which cable is grounded on the chassis though, there

> models that use positive ground just to keep people on their toes.
>
> The best indicator of which cable is which is the small symbol

> terminal. Don't trust the terminal rubber covers or cable

> that can be replaced 'wrong' by a previous owner.
>
> Robert
> :)
>
>
> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com

> la part de Stefan Trethan
> Envoyé : juillet 3 2005 13:53
> À : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
> Objet : Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Hmm, another thought....
>
>
> You know it is better to disconnect negative? If you start with

> you can easily short it to ground with the wrench while you undo

> on the clamp. Also, there is often no obstructing rubber thingy on

> Open circuit is open circuit so that doesn't change anything.
>
> As for using car batteries for EDM, you still need to limit

> current and switch it on/off. You could probably replace the first

> the large supply schematic with them, but i think then you can

> well go all the way.
>
> ST
>
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files,

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
>
> If Files or Photos are running short of space, post them here:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs_Archives/
> Yahoo! Groups Links

> I took a vocational program through highschool. One thing I will always
> remember in auto mechanics is ALWAYS disconnect the positive terminal at
> the battery (usually red, from all the blood splattering on it I guess).

On Sunday 03 July 2005 01:39 pm, Robert Hedan wrote:
> I took a vocational program through highschool. One thing I will
> always remember in auto mechanics is ALWAYS disconnect the positive
> terminal at the battery (usually red, from all the blood splattering
> on it I guess).

They were wrong. You want to disconnect the _ground_ wire first, and
connect
it last.

I speak from having managed a retail battery store for several years, and
changing out a LOT of them.








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> Hi Roy,
>
> You missed a subsequent post where I said I made a 'mistrake', I meant the
> negative. Then I yapped on about the reasons why.
>
> Robert
>
> :D

> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com]
> De la part de Roy J. Tellason
> Envoyé : juillet 4 2005 08:52
> À : Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com
> Objet : Re: [Homebrew_PCBs] Re: Hmm, another thought....
>
> On Sunday 03 July 2005 01:39 pm, Robert Hedan wrote:
> > I took a vocational program through highschool. One thing I will
> > always remember in auto mechanics is ALWAYS disconnect the positive
> > terminal at the battery (usually red, from all the blood splattering
> > on it I guess).
>
> They were wrong. You want to disconnect the _ground_ wire first, and
> connect
> it last.
>
> I speak from having managed a retail battery store for several years, and
> changing out a LOT of them.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
>
> If Files or Photos are running short of space, post them here:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs_Archives/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Be sure to visit the group home and check for new Links, Files, and Photos:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs
>
> If Files or Photos are running short of space, post them here:
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs_Archives/
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>