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Making circuit boards by hand

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LAN_403

Zum Beispiel

Mon Jan 16 2012, 11:18PM

Registered Member #514 Joined: Sun Feb 11 2007, 12:27AM
Location: Somewhere in Pirkanmaa, Finland
Posts: 295

Here's a little video I made about making PCBs at home. A permanent marker and a steady hand is all it takes. Just in case anyone is interested:

(Now complete with crappy pictures and editing, all in glorious 1080p!)

This method is great for making one-shot boards, but I wouldn't try it if the board has many ICs on it, or requires many fine traces for some other reason. For power boards, such as this inverter, with fat traces it's fine, though.

Comments?

Tetris

Tue Jan 17 2012, 01:16AM

Registered Member #4016 Joined: Thu Jul 21 2011, 01:52AM
Location: Gainesville, FL
Posts: 660

I find the "if there are any girls" comment sexist. Because the poster renders that argument invalid :P but where do you get the boards?

Patrick

Tue Jan 17 2012, 01:57AM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

Have you tried the H2O2 + HCl etchant? its much less temperature sensitive then ferric or ammonioum...

i just think the oxygen ion count needs to be upped when it gets dark.... i was contemplating using and fish air pump with air stone for this purpose.

dingo27

Wed Jan 18 2012, 08:10AM

Registered Member #890 Joined: Tue Jul 10 2007, 10:06PM
Location: Slovakia
Posts: 180

For me pernament markers have unpredictable results.

I use email paint markers like edding 750 and 780, they need to dry for 5 minutes, but there is no way the acid gets through them.

Patrick

Wed Jan 18 2012, 09:11AM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

I use sharpie paint markers, have always had good results, the felt tipink markers can lead to "pinhole-ing".

GluD

Wed Jan 18 2012, 01:32PM

Registered Member #1221 Joined: Wed Jan 09 2008, 06:17PM
Location: Odense, Denmark
Posts: 196

I have always used roughly the same method although I drill all the holes and then draw traces with a proper PCB marker, they was given to me for free a long time ago so I dont know if they are ridicously expensive, but I have never had problems with the ink being washed off. I use iron chloride to etch the boards and either grind the ink off with steelwool or use acetone.

Aperantly alot of people dont like the iron chloride ? I have never had problems with it.

Also would it not be better if the corners or edges, were 'rounded off' instead of so sharp turns? I dont really know much about PCB's so maybe I am wrong.

Patrick

Wed Jan 18 2012, 02:52PM

Registered Member #2431 Joined: Tue Oct 13 2009, 09:47PM
Location: Chico, CA. USA
Posts: 5639

GluD wrote ...

Aperantly alot of people dont like the iron chloride ? I have never had problems with it.

isnt iron chloride the same as ferric chloride?

Is it FeCl2 and FeCl3 ? i dont like ferrice chloride its dirty, and when it fills with sediment it becomes abbrasive to the ink.

Zum Beispiel

Wed Jan 18 2012, 08:55PM

Registered Member #514 Joined: Sun Feb 11 2007, 12:27AM
Location: Somewhere in Pirkanmaa, Finland
Posts: 295

HighVoltageChick wrote ...

but where do you get the boards?

Any shop that sells electronic components should have them.

Patrick wrote ...

Have you tried the H2O2 + HCl etchant? its much less temperature sensitive then ferric or ammonioum...

Haven't tried that. I don't make boards that often and Perchlorate seems to do the job just fine for me.

I've personally never had any problems with this method. I just always use a marker with a bit 'thicker' ink and I've never had it etch through. Edges can be a bit of a problem if you're not careful, though.

Dr. Who

Wed Jan 18 2012, 11:22PM

Registered Member #326 Joined: Sat Mar 18 2006, 01:12PM
Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 66

Nice video.

I use a permanent overhead projector marker pen for the etch resist (also handy for touching up gaps in press-n-peel boards), and ferric etchant. I know ferric chloride's messy, but I got a stack of it for free and I etch outdoors and wear old clothes.

Neet Studio

Sun Jan 22 2012, 05:15AM

Registered Member #4037 Joined: Fri Jul 29 2011, 03:13PM
Location:
Posts: 86

I use toner transfer with glossy paper from junk mail catalogs for doing PCB at home.
In some parts of the board I can squeeze a bit finer lines at 0.007" to go between pads. I work mostly with SMT parts. My limits at the moment is 64 pins 0.5mm pitch TQFP which requires a lot of 0.01" lines with 0.01" spacing. Anything beyond that seems to be a bit messy to route or breakout without using lots of small vias.

As for etching, I use Ferric Chloride or Ammonium persulfate. Ferric Chloride is a bit faster, but messy. I place the PCB in a plastic container and place on a home made heating pad. The heating pad is about 20W resistors glued to back of a metal lip with a thermistor/comparator/MOSFET temperature control. Finally got myself a < $10 digital scale to mix the solution properly.

For double side board, I etch one side first while covering the other side with packaging tape. After etching, I drill a few holes and use map pins to align the print out for the other side. Iron it down and use a marker to touch up on the pads that have been drilled out. I also try to touch up the pads on those holes on the other side in case the liquid leak through.

Sometimes I do the side with more details first as I can reuse the solution for the other side.

It seems like I am having more trouble with the thicker tracks than the fine tracks. ;) Board is solder plated with hot soldering iron.

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