[mofey]

Hey guys!

Attention should be paid to those guides.

According to one guide that I've read (in Russian) the use of photo paper plus special self-adhesive paper is advantageous. This eliminates soaking paper in water and removing it from the board after the toner has been transferred with the help of a clothes iron. These materials result according to the guide in very low probability of failure and a step of 0.2cm and smaller! All other guides share pretty much the same procedure.

Please include links of guides that you found were well-thought and easy to follow. I will modify this thread and include them in my post.

Good links:

http://headwize.com/projects/garbz2_prj.php
http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ight=pcb+laser
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/

Random links:

http://www.5bears.com/pcb.htm
http://max8888.orcon.net.nz/pcbs.htm
http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg/gooteepc.htm
http://www.qsl.net/ve2emm/pcb/pcb2e.html
http://www.semis.demon.co.uk/PCB/PCB.html
http://www.pulsar.gs/
http://www.qsl.net/k5lxp/projects/PCBFab/PCBFab.html

 

[firefox360]

Actually a while back there was some amount of discussion about home made PCB's. However, the topic has pretty much disappeared I guess.

 

[Voodoochile]

There was this thread, which was pretty good. I should sticky it.

Thanks for the links; it seems that everyone does it a bit differently, so it's nice to see what works best for someone.

Furthermore, welcome to Head-Fi, and sorry about the forthcoming demise of your wallet!

 

[seanohue]

Where can you buy blank copper boards from?

 

[Garbz]

There was heaps of discussion on this topic both here and on headwize. In the end I even wrote an article which Chu Moy published on the headwize site.
http://headwize.com/projects/garbz2_prj.php

Since then much has been debated about it, but due to the vast ammount of information available online it seems to be something very few people actually seek help about. They just go and do, and rightfully so because it really is dead easy.

seanohue most electronic shops sell blank copper pcbs. You'll also need paper a printer, and etchant.

 

[Polaris111688]

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanohue Where can you buy blank copper boards from?

Digikey sells copper-clad board. I'm sure Mouser or Newark do so too.

 

[jl123]

If you have a fry's electronics they have more than you would think. They have copper clad, all the chemicals, etching kits(even a nice one with a heater), etc. If you haven't checked out thier electronics section you're missing out.

 

[MacTheCat]

Don't bother with the commercial etching solutions. You can just use Iron III Chloride like this. Get the 500g of the reagent grade stuff. It's more pure and cheaper than the lap grade. You dissolve it in warm water until it is saturated and then add a bit of table salt to make it easier to see through to check the board. That will etch almost 120g of copper in an ideal situation, assuming I did my math right.

 

[mofey]

Voodoochile:
Thank you, too!

Weird thing is that I didn't find these threads with the built-in search function

Also, why are people ordering PCBs for their DACs, if you could make one easily at home? What's the reason for that?

 

[damonpip]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mofey Voodoochile: Thank you, too! Weird thing is that I didn't find these threads with the built-in search function Also, why are people ordering PCBs for their DACs, if you could make one easily at home? What's the reason for that?

Most of the PCBs available for DACs are made at commercial board fabs. That means you get a much nicer product, with silkscreened labels, plated pads and holes, lacquered finish, etc. Also, when purchased in a large quantity, professional boards are cheap, and it is simply not worth the effort to make one on your own. For example, the board for the Dynalo (not a small board) costs $10 from Dan Gardner. I'd probably spend $5 on materials, and the mess and effort to make the board is not worth $5 to me, especially when Dan's board is much nicer than mine would be.

 

[mofey]

damonpip
got it

[size=xx-small]I am wondering how much does it cost for a fab to print PCBs from a file? Do you guys know links to forums where industrial equipment (CAD/CNC machines) is discussed?[/size]

 

[Earwax]

There's an insane amount of discussion on home made PCBs on a yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/

If you can find a paper that works with your toner and printer combination it's not to hard to make single-sided boards. Double sided is beyond my skill and patience level however.

 

[Voodoochile]

The search is a bit wankish today (or, moreso than usual!). I see that there have also been some instances of triple and quadruple identical posts showing up. Gremlins.

 

[mofey]

Voodoochile
I will try to include all good links that come up in my original post.

Sorry, I changed the heading and now it's not sticky due to a bug? Also, it doesn't show the new title in the DIY forum group :/

 

[Polaris111688]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacTheCat Don't bother with the commercial etching solutions. You can just use Iron III Chloride like this. Get the 500g of the reagent grade stuff. It's more pure and cheaper than the lap grade. You dissolve it in warm water until it is saturated and then add a bit of table salt to make it easier to see through to check the board. That will etch almost 120g of copper in an ideal situation, assuming I did my math right.

My electronics teacher from last year used ferric chloride (FeCl[size=xx-small]3[/size]) with a fish tank bubbler. It worked like a charm.