That sounds like a great idea for aligning them, Neil. While I was at the store, I bought a UV lamp, some boards and developer, but I wanted to try the peel-off toner transfer paper first. I like it better than the other stuff. I guess you can tell right away because the blue peels off and leaves a clear sheet of plastic, and if it's not done just iron some more. My last boards I paid to have done--and it would have been cheaper this time, too...but I wanted to have a finished board by Monday, and that just wouldn't happen with a shop. Cliff ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pic Dude" To: Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2002 10:21 PM Subject: Re: [EE]: success making a PCB Cliff, I didn't have any problems lining them up. I printed both sides on one page and folded it carefully, one over the other while holding it up to a light. That way I ensured that both sides were aligned. Then I slipped the board in between. Someone else suggested to staple the 2 sides back-to-back like this and make an "envelope". I'll add my PCB experiences as well. I first tried what seemed to be the best solution for one-offs or prototypes: the toner-transfer system. While Nick Vey's page showed how he does this with regular glossy paper, I used actual toner-transfer paper. My results were decent, though not great -- my board was small (approx 1.5" x 3.5") and double-sided. On the first attempt, I had only partial coverage after holding the iron on for about 2.5 to 3 minutes. So it all came off and I tried again. One side came out perfect, but the other had a few problem traces. These were touched up with with some rub-on transfers and an etch-resist pen. However, after etching, one of the "good" toner-transfer lines had peeled off, and I lost a trace. My guess is that I need some practice. My next step is to try the photo-resistive process, cause I found out that I can get a UV light setup for PCB making for only about $32. Looking at commercial services too, even for one-offs. Of the few I have checked, custompcb.com has the best deal for what I want -- small PCB w/o holes. I don't care for soldermask, etc. At least for now. Cheers, -Neil. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cliff Griffin" To: Sent: Saturday, March 09, 2002 9:45 PM Subject: [EE]: success making a PCB > Just wanted to share an experience I recently had making a PCB. I've made > tiny ones before, but this one is 3x4", and the largest I've etched myself. > My first attempt was not successful, using the iron-on Toner Transfer > System. First, one side wouldn't take the toner in a couple places. I tried > to iron down a patch over it, but that failed too. I managed to get a trace > with a marker, but found that white-out worked better. (Yes, I cleaned the > board, so I don't know what was up with the toner.) After I etched it, I > found I had misaligned the top and bottom. It was just bad enough so when I > drilled my holes, it knocked the pad off of the other side. > > For my second attempt, I decided to use a single sided board for > simplicity--it only required seven jumpers, so I thought it would be fine > for this project. I also decided to use the Press-N-Peel Blue stuff, instead > of the iron-on and soak off stuff. The PNP-Blue seems easier to use--I had > no troubles with voids, and my .010" traces looks very good. > > While I used a tiny monokote iron, I'd bet that a full sized iron with a > flat bottom would be easier. > > Cliff > > -- > http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics > (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics > > > -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details. -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The PICList is archived three different ways. See http://www.piclist.com/#archives for details.