jackgiff
Well-Known Member
Thanks, Celt. That is a real compliment.
Etch Your Own Crossover Printed Circuit Boards
- Thread starter jackgiff
- Start date
Thanks, Celt. That is a real compliment.
jackgiff
Well-Known Member
Tom, the ink jet just might do the job, but it probably wouldn't print the edges quite as straight as a photo positive. Large areas of black will tend to thin out in places, and may limit the size of conductive areas on the artwork. The nomenclature was put on the artworks with a desk jet printer on transparency film, and then covered with Scotch tape prior to taping the artwork on that same transparency. The old "rub on" letters used to give pretty good results, but they are dinosaurs now.
Give it a try, and let us know how it works. That could open up a whole new way to get positives, and make the process even simpler. Good luck.
Tighelander
Member
Has anyone tried ironing a xerox of a PCB design to eliminate/speed up getting the image on the board?
Hello Jack and everybody. Nice thread and a good tutorial. May I add a few tips? Mainly to do with safety.
I spent 12 years doing photo-chemical-machining, ie etching. Telling you that is not me thumping my chest and bragging, but only to say that in at least this once instance I hope that I have some usefull thoughts for you.
First and foremost wear goggles while etching. Ferric-chloride is a pretty safe acid to work with but even in the fairly dilute form that you are buying it can burn your eyes quite well. Especially when tipping and tilting your board in the pan it's very easy to get a drop to splash up into an eye. For this reason I'd recommend doing your etching in the bathtub. Because if you do get any acid in your eye(s) you want a lot of COLD water to immediatly wash out your eye. Meaning that you can just stand up and stick your face under the shower and wash out your eye with cold water for a good 10 munutes. Then go to the doctor. Rinse first, doctor second.
If you get Ferric-chloride in your eye it will burn like the dickens, but it won't cause any permanant damage, as long as you wash it out immediatlely. Yes, I have done this. More than once.
I'd recommend at least wearing some latex gloves while etching. They are cheap, and after a while the acid will start to attack your skin. If you're going to be doing a lot of etching get some nitrile gloves. That's as good as armor for your hands against Fe³Cl.
Last, in terms of safety, is a rather delicate subject. I know that it's rude to shout but I'm going to do it anyway just this once.
IF YOU ARE DOING ANY ETCHING FOR HEAVENS SAKE DON'T FORGET TO WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE GOING TO THE TOILET!!! Most people forget this rule exactly ONCE in their etching carrier. After that the rule is burned into their... ...memory. Yes, I have done this. ONCE. You won't like it.
That's all that I have to say for now. I do have some other more practical etching tips that might be usefull if anyone is interested, but I didn't want to just blow in and take over this thread.
Cheers,
James
I spent 12 years doing photo-chemical-machining, ie etching. Telling you that is not me thumping my chest and bragging, but only to say that in at least this once instance I hope that I have some usefull thoughts for you.
First and foremost wear goggles while etching. Ferric-chloride is a pretty safe acid to work with but even in the fairly dilute form that you are buying it can burn your eyes quite well. Especially when tipping and tilting your board in the pan it's very easy to get a drop to splash up into an eye. For this reason I'd recommend doing your etching in the bathtub. Because if you do get any acid in your eye(s) you want a lot of COLD water to immediatly wash out your eye. Meaning that you can just stand up and stick your face under the shower and wash out your eye with cold water for a good 10 munutes. Then go to the doctor. Rinse first, doctor second.
If you get Ferric-chloride in your eye it will burn like the dickens, but it won't cause any permanant damage, as long as you wash it out immediatlely. Yes, I have done this. More than once.
I'd recommend at least wearing some latex gloves while etching. They are cheap, and after a while the acid will start to attack your skin. If you're going to be doing a lot of etching get some nitrile gloves. That's as good as armor for your hands against Fe³Cl.
Last, in terms of safety, is a rather delicate subject. I know that it's rude to shout but I'm going to do it anyway just this once.
IF YOU ARE DOING ANY ETCHING FOR HEAVENS SAKE DON'T FORGET TO WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE GOING TO THE TOILET!!! Most people forget this rule exactly ONCE in their etching carrier. After that the rule is burned into their... ...memory. Yes, I have done this. ONCE. You won't like it.
That's all that I have to say for now. I do have some other more practical etching tips that might be usefull if anyone is interested, but I didn't want to just blow in and take over this thread.
Cheers,
James
canuckaudiog
On a quest for high fidelity
Thank you for bumping this, I completely missed it in the sticky. This is a GREAT guide to making professional PCBs.. definitely going to give this a shot in the near future. Amazing how nice the product comes out!
Also thank you for the additional tips
Also thank you for the additional tips
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Totally agree. This is too awesome. I remember selling many kits working at RS, but never had the need or desire to do it. Well now I have a solid reason, replacing those bloody cheap Terminal/Networks in the Mach One speakers. Last time I checked, RS still carries boards and etching solution. Not much of a selection, but good in a pinch I guess.
OK. Tip # 1. use yellow light bulbs or get some yellow plastic foil to cover your room lighting in the area where you are working prior to exposing the photo-resist on your pcb's. This will cut down on UV light and extend the time that you can work without exposing the resist. (That plastic stuff on the board is called photo-resist, resist for short). Anything that works in a darkroom works with using resist as far as exposure goes, but yellow is easier on the eyes than red.
Once you make or buy your artwork (Photo-tool) get a piece of glass larger than the phototool and support it above a table. Lay a piece of white paper across the glass and find a lamp that you can lay under the glass. Now you can lay your phototool on the backlit glass emulsion side up and check it. A magnifying glass may help if your eyes are as old and bad as mine. Any voids or scratches in the phototool will now be easy so see and you can touch them up with a black permanent marker. This will save you the aggravation of having spots on your pcb that don't etch if you're using the positive film system, or even worse, spots that do etch if you are using negative film.
If you are making a lot of boards you can make a simple wood box with a couple of fluorescent lights in it and buy a piece of milk white glass for a top. Or you could try this. Most hospitals and clinics are switching over to digital x-rays, and are throwing out their old x-ray viewing frames, nothing more than a metal frame version of what I just described. You might be able to ask around and pick up one for free or close to it. It might be too late in many cases, at the hospital where I work they are already almost all gone.
Cheers,
James
If you are making a lot of boards you can make a simple wood box with a couple of fluorescent lights in it and buy a piece of milk white glass for a top. Or you could try this. Most hospitals and clinics are switching over to digital x-rays, and are throwing out their old x-ray viewing frames, nothing more than a metal frame version of what I just described. You might be able to ask around and pick up one for free or close to it. It might be too late in many cases, at the hospital where I work they are already almost all gone.
Cheers,
James
I've read through this guide 5 times now, and just have to say that from the POV of a former production etcher, this is a very well written, just plain excellent tutorial. Good work Jack.
Cheers,
James
Cheers,
James
Copa1934
My ears are bleeding
Photo slide viewers might work as well. Find them for as little as $1 at yard sales. Many available options.
Appreciate the additional tips, James.
You're welcome Copa. As/if/when I think of other things I'll post them. Unfortunately all of my experience is in negative film etching which limits things a bit for this application.
James
James
4343
Super Member
Just discovered this tutorial while re-reading the EconoWave thread. (I'm still learning things I missed it seems.)
Anyway, Jack Giff was kind enough to send me a print of his layouts for EconoWave and Indignia. Found them in a drawer with the stack of badges I bought.
I just scanned them and converted them into .PDF format. Would it be OK to post those here? Seeing as how Jack Giff is no longer with us, I'd like to enhance his legacy somewhat by keeping the DIY board option open for those that want to build their own, as Jack did.
Further development could happen if anyone knows how to turn them into the sort of file that can be turned directly into a circuit board. There are lots of companies now that can take a file and then send you the finished boards. I've done that for some other projects, and the boards come back very quickly and very professionally done. Basically exactly what the file describes...
Anyway, Jack Giff was kind enough to send me a print of his layouts for EconoWave and Indignia. Found them in a drawer with the stack of badges I bought.
I just scanned them and converted them into .PDF format. Would it be OK to post those here? Seeing as how Jack Giff is no longer with us, I'd like to enhance his legacy somewhat by keeping the DIY board option open for those that want to build their own, as Jack did.
Further development could happen if anyone knows how to turn them into the sort of file that can be turned directly into a circuit board. There are lots of companies now that can take a file and then send you the finished boards. I've done that for some other projects, and the boards come back very quickly and very professionally done. Basically exactly what the file describes...
drew_t
Well-Known Member
I can't imagine why anyone would have a problem with that. I remember thinking what a nice and helpful man Jack seemed to be when I first read through those threads.
4343
Super Member
OK, here it is. I used a laser printer to print on plain paper. As long as you press the black side up against the sensitized board and hold it there with a piece of glass it works fine. Exposure takes a little longer though, I used 10 minutes. Oh, and don't leave your board in the etching bath for 6 hours like I did. Boards still work despite that though.