{Moved] Home made PCB using toner transfer method.

[Marcus Cooper]

I have been chronicling an electronics project I am working on. There are some really good photos of the toner transfer method for making PCB's there. **broken link removed**

 

[cl10greg]

Re: Home made PCB using toner transfer method.

Hello there,

Thanks for the awesome walkthrough. Some tips from my experience on doing similar methods.
1.) Use the laminator method instead with the parchment paper. When the board is cleaned and prepped it is amazing!. Quick transfer just by running it through 5 or 10 times without the hassle of the iron. I just bought one from Walmart and it works great.
2.) Make your own etchant. If you are doing a lot of boards, the Radio Shack etchant will cost more than when you can just make. Just go to a hardware store and buy Muriatric Acid and go to a hair store and buy a high concentration hydrogen peroxide. 2 parts peroxide to 1 part acid, acid the acid to the peroxide.
3.) The cleaner the copper the better. I follow a method with acetone to clean it and Tarn-x to help clean it more
4.) Ground planes. Save a ton of copper from etching and reduce the time it takes. On the down side, it takes more work for big pads to stick to the copper.

I did the same thing you did and it is such a fun accomplishment and allows so much more home design power. Next step is getting a reflow oven for surface mount boards . I am on that step and it works pretty well, still tuning my profile in. My oven is a radiant heat one so it cooks my boards a little bit but its a work in progress and I have some SMD boards that have worked. Keep up the good work!

 

[Marcus Cooper]

Re: Home made PCB using toner transfer method.

cl10greg,

Thanks for all of this info. I will give your suggestions a try and update my site with my findings!