PCB. finally, oh finally

[MrWild]

I have been cursing under my breath everyone that claimed to get good results with the toner transfer system. There are no Staples stores in Wisconsin. As a result, I have tried Epson, HP, Canon, and Office Max gloss photo papers of good and premium qualities. I've tried the plain paper loaded in the copiers at Office Max. Plain paper I have here at home and loaded into the copiers at Office Max (and Office depot). All the results have left me scratching my head on just what I could be doing wrong. Heat settings, weight, time of the iron on part, all of it gave pee poor results. Well, I was in Tennessee for vacation a few weeks ago and Tennessee does have Staples stores. I bought both the regular and premium gloss Staples photo paper.

Today I hit Office depot and used their copier with the Staples photo papers. The blue pack wins hands down. The gold pack was good, but the blue pack took the toner with no pin holes, ironed on and stuck all over with only a tiny chip lifting during paper removal. If I had only mail ordered the Staples paper from the very first, I might not have such a bruised head from banging it against the wall. Can't wait to drill this board and start loading it for my second attempt at an EDM stepper driver. The first attemp you might call a learning adventure. It for sure has been an adventure all right. At least I now own a logic probe and know how to use it.

[abasir]

It sure feels good when it works
I've been using Epson and Canon papers with no problem (probably lucky ) There's no Office Max in Malaysia so I won't know how it compares...

[davesaudio]

The results are really so bad?
I've just been using clay coated magazine papers
- achitectural digest mostly. prefer 16 thou, 10 pushes it?
the odd pinhole in large areas - touch up with a sharpie or shelac
cheapest samsung laser - set dark

[MrWild]

Yes, they have been. The use of regular paper (not magazine stock) has too many fibers in the toner and the toner gets real soft when soaked in water. The (non-Staples) photo papers weren't taking enough toner and would actully look light gray due to the numerous pin holes. I have come to the conclusion it is the toner used in the copiers I've been using. I don't have access to any small home/office lazer copiers and use the local Office supply stores copier. Both stores use Epson copiers and both give the same poor results. The toner is also impervious to acetone and doesn't release at all. It take lots of rubbing wth a 3M pad, or a soak in carb cleaner.

I'll try thin glossy magazine paper after I run out of the Staples paper and see how that works with the copiers I have access to.

Then again, I may run off a bunch of Alan's boards. Worth $10 a board to not have to deal with all the crap. Especially if solder masked and silk screened.

[bill south]

Is there an web site I can go to for instructions on how to fabricate PC boards? I need five to build some home servo amps. And the biggie, is that I have never tried to etch boards before. Sooooo, I need everything from supplies to simple instructions. I don't mind a few failures as long as I get boards which work. Any help will be appreciated!!!!

[Mcgyver]

bill, do a search for toner transfer, either google or here - there is tons of good content on the subject - iirc some good tuts linked from here as well

[fyffe555]

MrWild, Maybe try another toner? It should be a lot easier than that!

I use toner transfer a lot, using an HP IIIP (ebay $15.00) and the experience is definitely different to yours. laserprinter Toner easily removes with acetone, no need to scrub to remove toner. However Toner *is* hard enough and fixes enough that you can scrub the paper off if needed. You can get reasonable results on stock copy paper if necessary by scrubbing off the fibres but the toner is untouched. Toner is untouched by water. Using Staples photopaper the traces and pours are solid black and rarely need touching up with a sharpie, unless you screw up the design ......

[smeghead]

i tried it for the first time yesterday using ordinary cheap copier paper and an hp1200 laser printer and the reults were fine, i will try another using a canon copier to copy the artwork and see how i get on, a lot of cheap copiers use a real crappy optical path, the newer digital machines should give a higher res output so in theory you should get less pinholing, but a lot depends on things like the toner composition and the nip width of the fuser on the copier, and most importantly the state of the copier itself.

[abasir]

Originally Posted by bill south Is there an web site I can go to for instructions on how to fabricate PC boards? I need five to build some home servo amps. And the biggie, is that I have never tried to etch boards before. Sooooo, I need everything from supplies to simple instructions. I don't mind a few failures as long as I get boards which work. Any help will be appreciated!!!!

May be this will get you started
http://cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?p=60010

[mjc117]

Hey Billyjack

What happened to the geckos? Going the 100% home built CNC : ).

How's the RF comming along, sent you a e-mail but it must have been lost in cyberspace, spam or ???

Take care
Mike