Making PCBs

This is certainly my favorite method and the one I've used the most by far. I must have produced over 100 different designs over the years with much success. It's probably the cheapest way to make boards, especially if you make several of each design.

1: Create your PCB artwork (image for copper layers). It must be able to print exactly to scale from your laser printer.

2: Select a piece of copperclad board and clean it thoroughly. I typically scrub the board with a wet SOS pad to remove all dirt, oxide, oils, etc. and then I scrub it with number 400 wet-type sandpaper. Then pad-dry with a new clean paper-towel. Never touch the surface with your fingers again or you'll leave prints that will hurt the toner-transfer & etching processes. Handle the board by the edges only. Blow off any lint, dust, etc. The sandpaper should be used lightly so as to keep the removal of copper to a minimum. If you scrub with sandpaper along the board's X axis, then the Y axis, you'll create PCB Assembly a hatch pattern that will ensure full coverage. The fine network of scratches help the toner to adhere to the copper, and that's very important.

3: Print your copper artwork to a normal sheet of paper. Cut a piece of Press'N'Peel-Blue sheet or Toner-Transfer-Paper sheet that is about 1/2" larger (length & width) than the artwork image. Lay the toner-transfer media (TTM) on top of the image. Secure the entire leading edge of the media to the image sheet using a single strip of paper correction tape. Be sure that the side that takes the toner is face up! Re-insert the image sheet with the TTM attached back into the laser printer such that when you print the artwork again, the image will print to the piece of TTM. Print the artwork again.

4: Use scissors to remove the piece of toner-transfer media from the normal paper sheet. Cut theTTM image down to within about 1/4" of the board border. Your artwork should have printed the board outline as a guide.

5: If you have a Superfuser (made by company that used to be called DynaArt but is now Pulsar) , apply the TTM, image side down, to the copper side of the board. The board should be about 1/4" longer and wider than the piece of TTM, otherwise the image may smear. Insert the board into the SF. Allow the SF to grab the leading edge of the board. Keep a finger or two on the TTM until you're sure its leading edge has also been captured, otherwise it may move and ruin the fusing process. If you do not have a SF, then get one. In the meantime, you'll have to use a clothes iron (set to lowest level possible very likely) to apply the toner image to the copper. Read about this process on the Pulsar site.

6: After the board has the TTM fused to it, you need to remove the TTM sheet. Put the board into a tray of water. If you are using PnP sheets, grab a corner and peel the sheet off under water. You can do it dry, but the results are better under water. I dunno why. If you're using TT paper, let it soak several minutes. Lift/slide the sheet away and rinse the board well to remove the purplish slime. You can lightly brush the surface while underwater with a 1" wide soft-bristle paintbrush. Pad dry the board with paper towels and touch up the image with a permanent-ink pen if required.

7: Etch the board in heated, circulated etching fluid, preferrably in a tank like the WaveMaster (again, WaveMaster was a DynaArt product, now would be Pulsar, last time I checked it was discontinued but any sort of bubble or wave etching tank would work). You can also use an air-bubble tank. A tray will do in a pinch but you should agitate PCB Assembly it gently by tipping the tray up & down slightly to cause a small wave action. Only etch until all the unwanted copper is gone, then remove and rinse.

8: Use an SOS pad to scrub all the toner off of the copper. Be a good Joe and don't use chemicals. The exercise won't kill you but the chemicals that dissolve toner are bad for you and everything else, including our water resources. Don't use the sandpaper again! It will remove more copper, the last thing you want to do at this point. It can even remove entire traces if they are fine.

9: You're done! You can drill & populate your new board.