Making PCB with laser (no chemical etch)

[Rodney Gold]

$60k to make prototype PCB's without any holes etc? I use my co2's to etch all sorts of stuff , the secret is to use a resist that can be sandblasted to remove any residue the laser ablation leaves
I use a polyester based laser friendly vinyl , sandblast after to remove residue and then use a home made heated ferric chloride and citric acid (google Edinburgh etch) spray etcher and achieve cut rates of up to 1mm per minute on copper and about 1/3rd that on stainless steel.
You can use a primer and paint and ablate with the CO2 and then use a household mild abraisive cream type cleaner rubbed on with your fingertips to clear any residue , it works , but often on very small lettering like 1mm high , you can lose the centres of letters like B's , P's etc.

[fullspeceng]

We can make features less than 1mil (25 microns) wide with the UV laser. UV laser can also drill the holes in thin boards.

Using our $60 inkjet kit, we direct print and get 6mil/6mil features at 25x the speed of rastering with a CO2 laser that you need to etch afterwards.

1 mm = 39mil. Even laser printing on toner transfer film /iron on can give you 15mils easily at 10x the speed.

LPFK charges $220,000 for their UV PCB laser system so $60k is a reasonable price for those that need copper ablation.

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Win a free CO2 laser: Full Spectrum Laser LLC

[Anath]

I've done this, flat black el-cheapo spray enamel lasered off with a 40W chinese laser as resist, etched in a vertical heated Ammonium Persulphate bubble(fish) tank, then sprayed with TESTORS candy transparent green, then that lasered off the pads as a solder resist, then popping holes in the center of through-hole pads with the laser turned up, and chased with a drill bit.

It's plenty good enough for 0805 resistors, and TQFP ICs (10mil / 10mil trace & space). My etching process is the limiting factor.

I sure wish I had the $220k for the LPKF laser though..