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An easy D I Y method of making professionallooking PCB's.
Updated April 10th 2006
History
Back in 1969 when I attended a meeting at the Morrabbin andDistrict Radio club the guest speaker was Harold HepburnVK3AFQ. He gave a very interesting and informative talk anddemonstration of designing and making a printed circuit board.His example was a 2-meter pre amp circuit, which was hand drawnonto a PCB with a marking pen and then etched with ferricchloride.This technique was the basis of many projects that Iconstructed over the years and I personally owe a lot to Haroldfor his inspiration.Since that time I have tried different methods in the quest forperfection. A couple of years ago I started using the ultraviolet light and photo etching methods with some excellentresults. Unfortunately there was often several attemptsrequired before a fault free board was produced. This methodwas rather expensive for the one off projects.More recently I have continued my search for a better way andhave now come up with a method, which gives almost perfectresults every time and no scrap.
References and acknowledgements
.
There are many pages on the Internet devoted to various waysfor the hobbyist to make his own PCB's.I have extracted some of this information and used it todevelop my own method, which is described in detail.
Advantages
This method is simple to use and can be carried out in limitedspace such as in the kitchen. There are no messy chemicals andno special environments required such as dark rooms and dustfree workshops.It is far cheaper than the photographic method and can even beused to produce quick mock-ups generally done using Veroboard.
Equipment required
1.
PCB Design Program.
2.
Laser printer.
3.
Electric Iron.
4.
Transparency Film.
5.
Printed Circuit Board.
6.
Plastic Dish.
7.
Ammonium Persulphate Etchant.
8.
Jex Steel Wool.
Method Summary
1.
Produce the artwork for the PCB using adesign program or the artwork supplied withthe project.
2.
Copy the artwork onto transparency filmusing a laser printer.
3.
Transfer the artwork to the PCB using anelectric iron.
4.
Etch the PCB with ammonium persulphate.
5.
Rinse and clean board.
Detailed Method
This description may seem lengthy but theprocess from printing to a finished boardis not more than 15 minutes.
2.
To transfer the drawing from the Eagle PCBprogram I have found that the best way is to
1.
I obtained a copy of Eagle PCB, which can beobtained fromhttp://www.cadsoft.de/freeware.htmThisis a free version and allows the hobbyist to produceboards up to 100mm x 80mm. This size of board is easyto handle and will enable you to produce designs of aquite complex nature. If the artwork is provided witha design from a magazine or from the Internet you canthen begin the process of producing the transparency.Laser printers are now quite cheap and not beyond thehobby equipment. You may have access to one throughyour local library or school.I use "Paint Shop Pro" available from www.jasc.com tomake any changes before printing and to obtain a goodblack and white transparency of the correct size.select a dark blue color for the tracks or bottomin the "display options" and set the Pads and Viasto green.Also, use a colored background selected from the"User interface" options. Select "Export/Image" tothe clipboard after setting the resolution to 300dpi.Open Paint Shop Pro and "Paste as new image".To get this to the correct size select"image/resize"set the resolution to 300 dpi. and change thewidth and height settings to 100%Now, convert it to a 2 color black/white imageusing "image/decrease color depth to 2 colors".It will now print the exact size required.
3.
I have a Lexmark E219 Laser printer capable of600dpi. The transparency film used can be Kodak InkjetTransparency film cat. No. 882 0151 or most otherinkjet transparencies. Load the film into the printerto print on the SMOOTH side. Set the scale as 1 : 1 andprint off the artwork. Do not make a mirror image asthis is done automatically during the heat transferstage. I often print several onto one page and selectthe best for transferring.
4.
If you are not satisfied with the printing andheat transfer of the artwork the markings can beremoved from the copper using some lacquer removerobtainable from your local hardware shop and thenclean up the copper with steel wool.
5.
To transfer the artwork to the PCB requires alittle care. I use an aero modeller’s iron with thesetting on hot. These irons can be obtained forabout $A50. A normal household iron works just aswell with a setting around that used for ironingwool. Apply gentle pressure and be careful not tomove the transparency. It takes a minute or so foreverything to get warm and the laser printing tofirmly adhere to the board.
6.
Leave the transparency in place on the board forabout 5 minutes to allow it to cool down. You willfind if the above has been done properly thetransfer will peel off easily and leave the artworkon the PCB.
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