The basics of photo etch

[Less Than Super Ostrich]

Came across this... would be interesting to stick this topic.

http://www.prototrains.com/etch1/etch1.html
http://www.prototrains.com/etch2/etch2.html

[Sparky]

macfrank has posted an article to the main site too. I can confirm that is do-able. Given I didn't get the laminator he uses yet and I still got it to work:

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/fh_pe.htm

Here's my whack-at-it pictures. I made the acid right from the quote in the above article. Works to etch PCBs too:

http://www.kc6sye.com/techmages_1_22_05.html

[macfrank]

macfrank has posted an article to the main site too. I can confirm that is do-able. Given I didn't get the laminator he uses yet and I still got it to work:

http://www.starshipmodeler.com/tech/fh_pe.htm

Here's my whack-at-it pictures. I made the acid right from the quote in the above article. Works to etch PCBs too:

http://www.kc6sye.com/techmages_1_22_05.html

Wow, cool! Believe me, the laminator makes a huge difference. The guy from Pulsar uses a slightly different method, but he etches with a ferric chloride soaked sponge. This may be a bit too much manhandling for thin brass, though. Maybe if it's supported by a bloc of tile or something similar it might work.

Hr also sells a cheaper laminator (which he mentions is available from almost any office suply store).

The PE etching system from the model train web page is pretty involved.

Frank

[Umi_Ryuzuki]

Thank you very much Macfrank...

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=447591

Everything worked just as described.

8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

[macfrank]

Thank you very much Macfrank...

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=447591

Everything worked just as described.

That's great Aimee! I love seeing other people's results, and you have a better description (and pictures) than my article. You should be able to run the PnP and brass through the laminator without the coversheet. I've tried it a few times with no ill effects.

Frank

[Sparky]

macfrank, what was the minimal wire you've managed to use on circuit boards? (using this method.) I have the laminator now works nicely.

[macfrank]

macfrank, what was the minimal wire you've managed to use on circuit boards? (using this method.) I have the laminator now works nicely.

With care, I can run a trace between standard IC pads (0.1" spacing) so traces about 0.025" - 0.03" wide are easy.

In fact, here's a Max 1595 board I etched and built, with surface mount components. The Max 1595 is a voltage regulator that'll produce either 3V from 1.8V or 5V from around 2.5V (depending on the part #). I made the board so it would have a standard 8 pin DIP outline, so I really had to cram the components in.

I have a small data logger sitting out in the Mojave right now that's using that small board to regulate the power from either the solar cells or the internal batteries to the 3.3V required by the internal processor. It works great - it may even still be working - I'll find out in about 140 days when I go out to pick it up. I think the high temps (probably close to 150F internally) will kill the batteries around August, but who knows.

The image suffers from pincushioning along the edges, btw. The pads on the Max 1595 are 0.010" wide on 0.0256" centers. As you can see, some of the traces are that wide. I made several of these boards, and they were all good; ironically, the only places that had a transfer failure where on the large copper fills.

Frank

[Sparky]

I got two of the original laminators off ebay, did a test run and now I got some circuit boards to give it a try.