[joostoo]

I just thought I'd share with everyone how I make my own PCB's. They all come out in EXCELLENT quality every single time (mind you I've only made about 10, so there are still alot of boards that could go wrong, but I doubt it).

Before I start, I'd like to say there are other ways of making boards, this is just from m preference.

WHAT YOU NEED:

Blank copper board
Sandpaper
Ferric Chloride
Acetone: a good possible substitute is nail polish remover with acetone in it
2 pieces of medium sized tupperware you swear never to eat with again
Water
Pliers or plastic tongs
Cue tips
Clothes Iron
Drill with perferably 1/32", 3/32", and 1/16" drill bits.
LASER printer or at least access to a laser photocopier
A piece of transparency paper
PCB software
Paper towels

WHAT IS NICE TO HAVE:

Rotary tool: this would be better to have than the drill because cutting is faster and easier.
Some spray to protect the board
Black Sharpie marker

LAYING OUT THE CIRCUIT, LAYOUT, AND PREPING THE BOARD:

Using Eagle PCB or expresspcb or anyother layout program, design your layout and all the traces. Make sure none overlap. I won't go into too much detail here because most of this depends on whatever program you are using.

http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/02.jpg
The board, scrubing pad, and circuit all ready to be used.

Now you should get your board ready to be ironed on. Cut it a bit bigger than the circuit by using either a rotary tool, or if you have one a bandsaw (mind you the bandsaw if kind of overboard...). Once you have it cut, take the sandpaper and scrub the board, both sides perferably, even if you plan on using one side. Scrub for a bit, then take a paper towel with bit of water or acetone and rub the board until no more, or very litte, dirt or grim comes off.

PRINTING AND IRONING:

When you are finished print out the traces onto a piece of transparency paper with a LASER printer. If you only have an inkjet printer, print it out on regular paper, and photocopy it onto a transparency with a laser photcopier. The photocopiers at Staples should do that, just ask the people there to put a transparent sheet in.

Now turn on your iron to the highest setting. While it is warming up (shouldn't take more than 2 minutes) fill one tupperware with water and the other with your ferric chloride. Don't really fill them, just put enough in for the project you are doing. Now get the board you made and the transparency. Cut out the traces and such from the sheet so there is about a inch of boarder around it. Now put it face down onto the board and DO NOT MOVE IT. You can put a small piece of masking tape in each corner to hold it down if you like. Put the iron on the board and paper and just press down for about 30 secs. Hold it down more if you like, but by then you can move the iron around abit to evenly heat all the traces. The ironing shouldn't take more than about a minute and a half. When you feel it is done, put the iron aside and pick up the board with the pliers or plastic tongs and put it in the water-filled tupperware.

http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/04.jpg
The toner being ironed onto the board.

http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/08.jpg
The board before etching with the toner still on.

ETCHING, DRILLING, AND GETTING IT TO SIZE:

Let the board soak in the water for about 30 secs. With the board still in the water, GENTLY take off the transparency. Then take the board out of the water, quickly dab it lightly with a paper towel, and inspect the traces. If they are almost done but need a little touch up, draw over them with the Sharpie. If they are off alot, scrub the board with the sandpaper and start again. Once you have it right, put the board in the ferric chloride. GENTLY move the tupperware around to move the ferric chloride, but the board doesn't really need it. A better idea is to move the board around with a pen or popsicle stick even.Periodically take the board out (with the pliers or tongs) and see if there is any copper left. If there is, put it back in. If there is none, put it back in the water for a few secs. I won't set a time limit for the etching because there are many factors (size of board, heat of ferric chloride, age of ferric chloride etc...). Now take the board out the the water and again, gently dab the board with paper towels. Now some people like to take then toner off THAN drill, but I prefer drilling first.

http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/10.jpg
The board in the ferric chloride being etched.

http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/12.jpg
The board after being etched with the toner still on.

Take your drill/rotary tool, or even if you have one a drill press, and drill all the holes. The most common hole sizes are 0.8mm (1/32"), 1.2mm (1/16"), and for mounting hole 2mm (3/32"). Once you are done drilling, put the board down. Now again with your drill/rotary tool, or even bandsaw, cut the board down to exactly the size you want it.

http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/14.jpg
The board about the have the component holes drilled.

TAKING OFF THE TONER AND PROTECTING:

Place the board onto a piece of paper towel, and get you acetone/nail polish remover and some cue tips. Take a cue tip and wet the end of it with the acetone or nailpolish remover. With it, go over the traces on the board so the toner comes off. Put in a bit of effort if you have to. Acetone will make the toner come off VERY easily, the nail polish remover will work, but with a bit of elbow grease included.

http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/13.jpg
Half of the board with the toner removed, the other side still has it on.

Once all the toner is off, spray the board with a protective spray if you feel you need to. Or you can just leave the board unprotected. The choice is yours.

http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/16.jpg
The final and completed board with component layout on.

There it is. That is how I make my boards each and every time, and each time they come out great.

FAQS:

Q: A copper board! Ferric chloride! Where do I get this stuff?!

A: Radioshack has a nice little starter kit that includes two boards, 6 oz. bottle of ferric chloride (that enough to get you started), a bit of toner remover, a scruber, and a drill bit. If you want this set though, don't waste your time with the toner remover they give you. It may get rid of any Sharpie traces, but it will take a vvvvvvvvery long time to get rid of the toner.

Here is the link to it: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=search
They also sell 16 oz bottles of ferric chloride:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family

SOURCES:
http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg/gooteepc.htm Tom Gootee's page.
Great information and nice pictures, but I personally think he spent too much time talking about the right kind of paper to use. You should still go there and check it out.

HA that was my only source, everything else came from trial and error.

Keep in mind this is only for single sided boards. Try it and have fun

I just want to give a thanks to Voodoochile who provided and allowed me to use his pictures. Thanks Voodoo!! You can find the whole set of pictures at this link if you need them:
http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/

 

[xluben]

If this had pics I'd think it would be worthy of a sticky, great write up, very interesting. Could you use an inkjet printer with an iron-on sheet?

I'd like to try something like this someday. Does anyone know if it's possible to do a single sided CMoy board?

 

[Voodoochile]

Nice writeup! I have done this quite a bit in the past, and it does work well. The only diff was that I was using semi-gloss inkjet paer through a laserprinter. I bet transparency film does work better.

Regarding the tape, I did do that: I used masking tape, just a bit, on the opposite corners. I would have the pattern oversized compared to the copper clad board, with corner marks. Have the pattern face up on the table, and lay the copper face down on it, using the corner marks as a guide. Then apply tiny tabs of masking tape to the edge of the board. This way the tape never contacts the iron. Flip the sandwich over and cover with a blank sheet of copier paper and iron away.

I have some pics of the process here:
http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/

 

[Voodoochile]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xluben Could you use an inkjet printer with an iron-on sheet?

You need a toner-based printer. The ironing transfers the plastic toner to the copper. Just make an inket print on paper and then photocopy it onto the transparency film.

 

[jerb]

When The baord is sitting in the acid solution you can put a pen or simmilar underneath the container so you can rock it easily (agitate)


for any one whose interested here his a picture gallery with explainations for making boards with photoressist:

http://www.psmedia.se/bildarkivet/v/...ab/pcb+making/

 

[joostoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voodoochile I have some pics of the process here: http://www.marknorman.org/images/Chu_rev1/

Wow nice pictures. Would you mind if I put them in?

Thanks for the comments guys. I will add that you can use tape to hold it and the pen idea for agitating it.

 

[joostoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xluben Does anyone know if it's possible to do a single sided CMoy board?

Guzzler made one, its actually the one I used for my Cmoy. I can't find the link right now though.

 

[Sinbios]

What heat setting is the iron on? Would it melt the transparency?

 

[MASantos]

If Voodoochile allows the use of his pictures I think this should be made a sticky, with both those links in it!!!

This is very useful information for those who want to take the "next step"

Manuel

 

[Pars]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xluben If this had pics I'd think it would be worthy of a sticky, great write up, very interesting. Could you use an inkjet printer with an iron-on sheet? I'd like to try something like this someday. Does anyone know if it's possible to do a single sided CMoy board?

Here is guzzler's original thread. I think this goes to 2 sided at some point, although this is also doable at home with some care.

 

[xluben]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joostoo Guzzler made one, its actually the one I used for my Cmoy. I can't find the link right now though.

Here it is:

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=87056

I had heard of Guzzler's CMoy PCB, but never realized that it was as simple as it is.

Does anyone know if it would be possible to make single-sided board with the I/O jacks mounted next to the pot? It seems like the only reason Guzzler's design can be single-sided is because he has wires going to the jacks. This seems fine, but it would make for an easier build to not have to wire up panel component, and just solder them to the board.

 

[joostoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sinbios What heat setting is the iron on? Would it melt the transparency?

Put the iron on the highest setting. On my iron its called "Linen", and its associated with the number 7, but yours is probably different. Just make sure its the highest and it should work.

 

[joostoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xluben Here it is: http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=87056 Does anyone know if it would be possible to make single-sided board with the I/O jacks mounted next to the pot? It seems like the only reason Guzzler's design can be single-sided is because he has wires going to the jacks. This seems fine, but it would make for an easier build to not have to wire up panel component, and just solder them to the board.

I've kind of been working on it. What I've been doing is making something like a doublesided board. All the traces are on the bottom, but if I can't make it to a part I put a hole there, a hole where I want the traces to begin at again, and then just jumper them with a component lead. In other words instead of the top traces being actually on the board, they are component leads. Do you get what I'm saying??

 

[Garbz]

I found the most important thing to a perfect board is the paper and the printer. The combination I use at the moment (Konika Colour laser, and Canon Glossy Photo Paper) has slight pitting, but works perfectly even with 12mill traces.

http://headwize.com/projects/garbz2_prj.php With pictures.

 

[xluben]

Quote:

Originally Posted by joostoo I've kind of been working on it. What I've been doing is making something like a doublesided board. All the traces are on the bottom, but if I can't make it to a part I put a hole there, a hole where I want the traces to begin at again, and then just jumper them with a component lead. In other words instead of the top traces being actually on the board, they are component leads. Do you get what I'm saying??

Yep, this was the only way I thought it could work. I noticed that Gary has a few such jumpers in his PA2V2 PCB, and it seems simple enough.