I've tried this - it works. Copyright Alberto Ricci Bitti.
For some reason I can't see the Upload Picture button, so text will have to do - sorry!
How to make PCBs at home
in 1 hour & W I T H O U T special materials
This technique works reliably for thin tracks down to 1 mil, and is suitable for most surface-mount parts.
What you need
Required materials
Magazines or advertising brochures
Mail-order catalogue. Must be glossy.
Laser printer
Alternately, a photocopier should work Samsung ML1710 with original toner cartridge.
Inkjet printers/copiers don't work.
Household clothes iron Philips
Copper clad laminate FR4 laminate 1.6 mm thick (35um copper)
Etching solution Ferric chloride solution,
about 1 liter
Kitchen scrubs 3M household item
Thinner (e.g. acetone) Nail polish remover.
Most solvents used in painting will do.
Plastic coated wire Plastic insulated copper wire, 1 mm diameter solid core (about 1 meter/3feet)
You need also: a blade cutter, scotch tape, sandpaper, kitchen paper, cotton wool, vice, hacksaw.
How it works
Laser printers and photocopiers use plastic toner, not ink, to draw images. Being plastics, toner is resistant to etching solutions used for making PCBs
Like most plastics, toner melts with heat, turning in a sticky, glue-like paste. So why not print on paper as usual, place the sheet face-down on PCB copper, and melt toner on copper applying heat and pressure?
Almost right. Right now you got paper toner-glued to PCB copper. Last step is to find a way to remove paper leaving toner on the copper, and you?re done.
Magazine paper works well when fed through a laser printer and then ironed onto a PCB to get the toner onto copper. Magazines use ink, not toner, for printing, so previous printing shouldn?t affect the process.
Finding the right paper
The perfect paper should be: glossy, thin, and cheap. The kind of stuff that looks lustrous and shiny when new, but so cheap it quickly turns into pulp when wet. If you ever found a mailbox full of squashy mail on a rainy day, you already know the answer: paper used for most mail advertising and magazines fits perfectly the requisites. As a rule of thumb, if humidity in your bathroom turns your magazine in bad shape, it should be OK. If the humidity on your fingertips is enough to feel a sticky sensation while touching its gloss coating, it should be OK. Feel free to experiment: almost any glossy magazine paper will work. I like thin paper over thick one, and prefer recycled paper over new paper.
Paper preparation discard pages heavily printed, preferring pages with normal-size text on white background. Although ink usually does not transfer on the PCB, heavy print of headlines sometimes accumulate so much ink that some gets on copper.
Cut the paper to a size suitable for your printer. Try to get straight, clean cuts, as jagged borders and paper dust are more prone to clog printer mechanism. An office cutter is ideal, but also a blade-cutter and a steady hand work well.
Be careful to remove all staples, bindings, gadget glue or similar stuff, as they can damage printer?s drum and mechanisms.
Printer setupLaser printers are not designed for handling thin, cheap paper, so we must help them feeding the sheets manually instead of using the paper tray. Selecting a straight paper path minimizes the chances of clogging. This is usually achieved setting the printer as if it were printing on envelopes.
You want to put as much toner on paper as possible, so disable ?toner economy modes? and set printer properties to the maximum contrast and blackness possible. You want to print your PCB to exact size, so disable any form of scaling/resizing (e.g. ?fit to page?). If your printer driver allows, set it to ?center to page? as it helps to get the right position using a non-standard size sheet.
PrintingDisclaimer: your laser printer is not designed to handle this kind of paper. Feeding your printer with paper other than special laser printer paper could damage it and potentially voids the warranty. So you are warned: do it at your own risk.
Print your PCB layout as usual, except you must setup the printer as described above and you must print a mirrored layout.
How to cut raw materialPCB material is fibreglass like, and a trick to cut it effortlessly is to score a groove with a blade cutter or a glass cutter. The groove weakens the board to the point that bending it manually breaks it along the groove line. This method is applicable only when cutting the whole board along a line that goes from side to side, that is you can?t cut a U or L shaped board with it.
For small boards, I lock the PCB material in a vice, aligning vice edge and cut line. I use an all-aluminium vice which is soft and doesn?t scratch copper, if you use a steel vice protect copper surface with soft material.
Using the vice as a guide, I score BOTH board sides with a blade cutter (be careful) or another sharp, hardened tool (e.g. a small screwdriver tip). Ensure to scratch edge-to-edge. Repeat this step 5-6 times on each side.
Bend the board. If groove is deep enough, the board will break before reaching a 30 degrees bend. It will break quite abruptly so be prepared and protect your hands with gloves.
To make paper alignment easier, cut a piece of PCB material that is larger (at least 10mm for each side) than the final PCB.
Cleaning the board for transfer
It is essential that the copper surface is spotlessly clean and free from grease that could adverse etching. To remove oxide from copper surface, I use the abrasive spongy scrubs sold for kitchen cleaning. It?s cheaper than ultra-fine sandpaper and reusable many times. Metallic wool sold for kitchen cleaning purposes also works. Thoroughly scrub copper surface until really shiny. Rinse and dry with a clean cloth or kitchen paper.
Preparing for transferTo make paper alignment easy, cut excess paper around one corner (leave a small margin though). Leave plenty of paper on the other sides to fix the paper to the desk. As the board is larger than the final PCB, there is large margin for easy placement of paper on copper.
Turn the iron to its maximum heat (COTTON position) and turn off steam, if present. While the iron warms up, position the materials on the table. Don?t work on an ironing board as its soft surface makes it difficult to apply pressure and keep the PCB in place. Protect table surface with flat, heat-resistant material (e.g. old magazines) and place the board on top, copper face up. Lock the board in place with double-adhesive tape. Position the PCB printout over the copper surface, toner down, and align paper and board corners. Lock the paper with scotch tape along one side only. This way, you can flip the paper in and out instantly.
Iron it!
Flip out the paper, and preheat copper surface placing the iron on top of it for 30 seconds. Remove the iron, flip back paper into its previous position over the copper. It is essential that paper does not slip from its position. You can also cover with a second sheet of blank paper to distribute pressure more evenly. Keep moving the iron, while pressing down as evenly as you can, for about one minute.
Remove the iron and let the board to cool down.
PeelingThis is the fun part. When the board is cool enough to touch, trim excess paper and immerge in water. Let it soak for 1 minute, or until paper softens.
Cheap paper softens almost immediately, turning into a pulp that is easy to remove rubbing with your thumb. Keep rubbing until all paper dissolves (usually less than 1 minute). Don?t be afraid to scratch toner, if it has transferred correctly it forms a very strong bond with copper.
The board with all paper removed. It is OK if some microscopic paper fibres remain on the toner (but remove any fibre from copper), giving it a silky feeling. It is normal that these fibres turn a little white when dry.
Etching
There are many alternatives for etching liquids, and you can use the one that suits your taste. I use ferric chloride (the brown stuff): it?s cheap, can be reused many times, and doesn?t require heating. Actually, moderate heating can speed up etching, but I find it reasonably fast also at room temperature (10?15 minutes).
The down side of this stuff is that it?s incredibly messy. It permanently stains everything it gets in contact with: not only clothes or skin (never wear your best clothes when working with it!), but also furniture, floor tiles, tools, everything. It is concentrated enough to corrode any metal ? including your chrome-plated sink accessories. Even vapours are highly corrosive: don?t forget the container open or it will turn any tool or metallic shelf nearby into rust.
For etching, I place the container on the floor (some scrap cardboard or newspaper to protect the floor from drops). I fit the board on the hanger, and submerge the PCB. Stir occasionally by waving the hanger.
First impression may be that nothing happens, but in less than 10 minutes some copper is removed, making first tracks to appear. From now on, stir continuously and check often, as the process completes rather quickly. You don?t want to overdo it, otherwise thinner tracks start being eroded sideways. As a rule of thumb, stop 30 seconds after you don?t see any copper leftovers over large areas.
Rinse the board with plenty, plenty, plenty of water
I store the etching solution in the same plastic box used for etching. When the job is done I just put the hermetic lid on. To further minimize risks of leakage, I put the container inside the bigger one I use for rinsing, put the second lid, and store it in a safe place.
Disclaimer: These are dangerous chemicals. Always read the labels that come with the solution, handle it wearing protective gloves and goggles, keep windows open, don?t inhale the fumes.
Finishing touchesA few drops of thinner (nail polish remover works well) on a pinch of cotton wool will remove completely the toner, bringing back the copper surface. Rinse carefully and dry with a clean cloth or kitchen paper.
Trim to final size and refine edges with sandpaper.
The best thing about this method is that it makes possible to start with a great idea at 11:00 pm and have your prototype working by midnight.
For some reason I can't see the Upload Picture button, so text will have to do - sorry!
How to make PCBs at home
in 1 hour & W I T H O U T special materials
This technique works reliably for thin tracks down to 1 mil, and is suitable for most surface-mount parts.
What you need
Required materials
Magazines or advertising brochures
Mail-order catalogue. Must be glossy.
Laser printer
Alternately, a photocopier should work Samsung ML1710 with original toner cartridge.
Inkjet printers/copiers don't work.
Household clothes iron Philips
Copper clad laminate FR4 laminate 1.6 mm thick (35um copper)
Etching solution Ferric chloride solution,
about 1 liter
Kitchen scrubs 3M household item
Thinner (e.g. acetone) Nail polish remover.
Most solvents used in painting will do.
Plastic coated wire Plastic insulated copper wire, 1 mm diameter solid core (about 1 meter/3feet)
You need also: a blade cutter, scotch tape, sandpaper, kitchen paper, cotton wool, vice, hacksaw.
How it works
Laser printers and photocopiers use plastic toner, not ink, to draw images. Being plastics, toner is resistant to etching solutions used for making PCBs
Like most plastics, toner melts with heat, turning in a sticky, glue-like paste. So why not print on paper as usual, place the sheet face-down on PCB copper, and melt toner on copper applying heat and pressure?
Almost right. Right now you got paper toner-glued to PCB copper. Last step is to find a way to remove paper leaving toner on the copper, and you?re done.
Magazine paper works well when fed through a laser printer and then ironed onto a PCB to get the toner onto copper. Magazines use ink, not toner, for printing, so previous printing shouldn?t affect the process.
Finding the right paper
The perfect paper should be: glossy, thin, and cheap. The kind of stuff that looks lustrous and shiny when new, but so cheap it quickly turns into pulp when wet. If you ever found a mailbox full of squashy mail on a rainy day, you already know the answer: paper used for most mail advertising and magazines fits perfectly the requisites. As a rule of thumb, if humidity in your bathroom turns your magazine in bad shape, it should be OK. If the humidity on your fingertips is enough to feel a sticky sensation while touching its gloss coating, it should be OK. Feel free to experiment: almost any glossy magazine paper will work. I like thin paper over thick one, and prefer recycled paper over new paper.
Paper preparation discard pages heavily printed, preferring pages with normal-size text on white background. Although ink usually does not transfer on the PCB, heavy print of headlines sometimes accumulate so much ink that some gets on copper.
Cut the paper to a size suitable for your printer. Try to get straight, clean cuts, as jagged borders and paper dust are more prone to clog printer mechanism. An office cutter is ideal, but also a blade-cutter and a steady hand work well.
Be careful to remove all staples, bindings, gadget glue or similar stuff, as they can damage printer?s drum and mechanisms.
Printer setupLaser printers are not designed for handling thin, cheap paper, so we must help them feeding the sheets manually instead of using the paper tray. Selecting a straight paper path minimizes the chances of clogging. This is usually achieved setting the printer as if it were printing on envelopes.
You want to put as much toner on paper as possible, so disable ?toner economy modes? and set printer properties to the maximum contrast and blackness possible. You want to print your PCB to exact size, so disable any form of scaling/resizing (e.g. ?fit to page?). If your printer driver allows, set it to ?center to page? as it helps to get the right position using a non-standard size sheet.
PrintingDisclaimer: your laser printer is not designed to handle this kind of paper. Feeding your printer with paper other than special laser printer paper could damage it and potentially voids the warranty. So you are warned: do it at your own risk.
Print your PCB layout as usual, except you must setup the printer as described above and you must print a mirrored layout.
How to cut raw materialPCB material is fibreglass like, and a trick to cut it effortlessly is to score a groove with a blade cutter or a glass cutter. The groove weakens the board to the point that bending it manually breaks it along the groove line. This method is applicable only when cutting the whole board along a line that goes from side to side, that is you can?t cut a U or L shaped board with it.
For small boards, I lock the PCB material in a vice, aligning vice edge and cut line. I use an all-aluminium vice which is soft and doesn?t scratch copper, if you use a steel vice protect copper surface with soft material.
Using the vice as a guide, I score BOTH board sides with a blade cutter (be careful) or another sharp, hardened tool (e.g. a small screwdriver tip). Ensure to scratch edge-to-edge. Repeat this step 5-6 times on each side.
Bend the board. If groove is deep enough, the board will break before reaching a 30 degrees bend. It will break quite abruptly so be prepared and protect your hands with gloves.
To make paper alignment easier, cut a piece of PCB material that is larger (at least 10mm for each side) than the final PCB.
Cleaning the board for transfer
It is essential that the copper surface is spotlessly clean and free from grease that could adverse etching. To remove oxide from copper surface, I use the abrasive spongy scrubs sold for kitchen cleaning. It?s cheaper than ultra-fine sandpaper and reusable many times. Metallic wool sold for kitchen cleaning purposes also works. Thoroughly scrub copper surface until really shiny. Rinse and dry with a clean cloth or kitchen paper.
Preparing for transferTo make paper alignment easy, cut excess paper around one corner (leave a small margin though). Leave plenty of paper on the other sides to fix the paper to the desk. As the board is larger than the final PCB, there is large margin for easy placement of paper on copper.
Turn the iron to its maximum heat (COTTON position) and turn off steam, if present. While the iron warms up, position the materials on the table. Don?t work on an ironing board as its soft surface makes it difficult to apply pressure and keep the PCB in place. Protect table surface with flat, heat-resistant material (e.g. old magazines) and place the board on top, copper face up. Lock the board in place with double-adhesive tape. Position the PCB printout over the copper surface, toner down, and align paper and board corners. Lock the paper with scotch tape along one side only. This way, you can flip the paper in and out instantly.
Iron it!
Flip out the paper, and preheat copper surface placing the iron on top of it for 30 seconds. Remove the iron, flip back paper into its previous position over the copper. It is essential that paper does not slip from its position. You can also cover with a second sheet of blank paper to distribute pressure more evenly. Keep moving the iron, while pressing down as evenly as you can, for about one minute.
Remove the iron and let the board to cool down.
PeelingThis is the fun part. When the board is cool enough to touch, trim excess paper and immerge in water. Let it soak for 1 minute, or until paper softens.
Cheap paper softens almost immediately, turning into a pulp that is easy to remove rubbing with your thumb. Keep rubbing until all paper dissolves (usually less than 1 minute). Don?t be afraid to scratch toner, if it has transferred correctly it forms a very strong bond with copper.
The board with all paper removed. It is OK if some microscopic paper fibres remain on the toner (but remove any fibre from copper), giving it a silky feeling. It is normal that these fibres turn a little white when dry.
Etching
There are many alternatives for etching liquids, and you can use the one that suits your taste. I use ferric chloride (the brown stuff): it?s cheap, can be reused many times, and doesn?t require heating. Actually, moderate heating can speed up etching, but I find it reasonably fast also at room temperature (10?15 minutes).
The down side of this stuff is that it?s incredibly messy. It permanently stains everything it gets in contact with: not only clothes or skin (never wear your best clothes when working with it!), but also furniture, floor tiles, tools, everything. It is concentrated enough to corrode any metal ? including your chrome-plated sink accessories. Even vapours are highly corrosive: don?t forget the container open or it will turn any tool or metallic shelf nearby into rust.
For etching, I place the container on the floor (some scrap cardboard or newspaper to protect the floor from drops). I fit the board on the hanger, and submerge the PCB. Stir occasionally by waving the hanger.
First impression may be that nothing happens, but in less than 10 minutes some copper is removed, making first tracks to appear. From now on, stir continuously and check often, as the process completes rather quickly. You don?t want to overdo it, otherwise thinner tracks start being eroded sideways. As a rule of thumb, stop 30 seconds after you don?t see any copper leftovers over large areas.
Rinse the board with plenty, plenty, plenty of water
I store the etching solution in the same plastic box used for etching. When the job is done I just put the hermetic lid on. To further minimize risks of leakage, I put the container inside the bigger one I use for rinsing, put the second lid, and store it in a safe place.
Disclaimer: These are dangerous chemicals. Always read the labels that come with the solution, handle it wearing protective gloves and goggles, keep windows open, don?t inhale the fumes.
Finishing touchesA few drops of thinner (nail polish remover works well) on a pinch of cotton wool will remove completely the toner, bringing back the copper surface. Rinse carefully and dry with a clean cloth or kitchen paper.
Trim to final size and refine edges with sandpaper.
The best thing about this method is that it makes possible to start with a great idea at 11:00 pm and have your prototype working by midnight.
