DIY PCB Etching

[Dmoney]

Hello pedal builders and amp fellas.
Does anyone have any advice on making up small simple PCB's?
feel like having a go. I can hand a plastic tub and some acid, but the last time I did some etching it was using these rub on sheets of traces and pads in secondary school. Now I've seen this iron on stuff. Has anyone got an idea on where I can pick up a nice kit or should I just get some Tupperware and muriatic acid.

[juansolo]

I pay a man with much more patience than me to do it :)

[JacksonRR]

http://www.fullspectrumengineering.com/tutorial.html

Might be an option for you if you own an Epson ink jet with a CD/DVD printer. Limited to 3.5"X2.5" and 1/32" stock, but if you print and drill locating holes, you can epoxy two together for a double sided board(or extra stability) as long as your vias have a component leg soldered there. There is a Yahoo group for full conversion of cheap inkjet Epsons into dedicated PCB printers. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Inkjet_PCB_Construction/

But if you're talking about power supplies or little mod boards, I'd just use a sharpie or nail polish and etch.

[Dmoney]

I'm just talking about smalls board really and nothing carrying huge voltages or currents. Something like that tone stack board I made in the Tech pages.
I looked at the etching pens that seems the easiest way to make the odd board here and there but would it make decent traces? I guess I could use masking tape with that for nail varnish to get sharp edges. I could also try the iron on stuff but I'd have to rely on my work laser printed. I have no printer at home.

[JacksonRR]

Traces with a Sharpie are as good as you are, really. Let it cure up for an hour or so(it's dry instantly, but not ideal) and then etch with a heated solution. I have a ceramic plate with a high lip on it and I'll put a bit of water in it and stick it in the microwave for 30-45 secs. At that point, I'll put my etching container in the heat bath. Agitate for about a minute and it's done. Etching with a cold solution will take much much longer. I do it on the stove as it's a glass top and ventilation is already there.

No printer sucks. What you can do is get your components together and arrange them on a piece of paper, sticking the legs through. Draw your traces around them, pull the components and place that paper over your copper clad(flip it :)) and poke each hole with the Sharpie. Now you're free to use a straight edge to connect the dots. Try to get a fine and an ultra fine sharpie. Ultra fine for traces, fine for pads.

edit: If you wanna get fancy and have your components line up, use graph paper.

[Transcend]

i use a laser printer and old magazines or photo paper

the one i have is a dell that was about £40 on ebuyer. Does a great job!

[Dmoney]

turns out the singer from my old band has access to actual etching tanks and spends a lot of time etching boards for the kids at the school he works it. He's going to give me some off cuts and a pen to have a go. I'll pass em back to him and he'll get them etched. I might re-do my tone stack board for my amp if it comes out well. I need a couple of boards for different things at the moment so If the pen idea work then I'll be pleased. Just need to get my drawing steady!

[forestcaver]

I tend to just use permanent markers - I tend to print off a pcb image, tape it to the pcb blank, drill the holes and then join the dots with a permanent marker - it's slow but works quite well....

Andy

[demir82]

Making PCB's by yourself is not exactly a bad idea. Using Ferric Chloride for etching the PCB is the well-known method. There are more new ideas on etching PCB out there. PCB fabrication and assembling at home, are good for simple and small projects I think. If you were to build a good long-lasting PCBs, you should probably try professional PCB manufacturers.

pcb assembly services

[jpfamps]

It's drilling the holes that's the major pain.

Another option is photostencilling.

You can buy the photo resist spray from Maplins.

You simply spray the board with it then, attach a acetate print out of the PCB to the board and expose to UV light.

With some experimentation this can be done using sunlight.

The photoresist is washed off and the board is ready for etching.

Alternatively you can purchase precoated boards.

[Toe-Knee]

It's drilling the holes that's the major pain.

Another option is photostencilling.

You can buy the photo resist spray from Maplins.

You simply spray the board with it then, attach a acetate print out of the PCB to the board and expose to UV light.

With some experimentation this can be done using sunlight.

The photoresist is washed off and the board is ready for etching.

Alternatively you can purchase precoated boards.

I agree with regards to the drilling i really hate having to do that.

[jpfamps]

I agree with regards to the drilling i really hate having to do that.

It's one of those jobs that has combination of bad features: boring, easy to c--k up and potientally hazardous.

[Toe-Knee]

I agree with regards to the drilling i really hate having to do that.

Those are all very good points. I would much rather pay somebody else to do it personally.

It's one of those jobs that has combination of bad features: boring, easy to c--k up and potientally hazardous.