Making PCBs - Silicate Developer

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Devil_H@ck

Devil_H@ck

Member
Joined 2003
members.lycos.nl/anthonyvh
I just want to inform everyone that I updated my tutorial on how to make PCBs with info about silicate developer.

Normally I wouln't make a new thread just to tell you about an update to my site, but this silicate developer is fantastic and I think that everyone who makes PCBs should know about it (for those of you who don't make them theirselves yet, start doing so right now ;)!).

Anyway, here's the link: http://members.lycos.nl/anthonyvh/index.php?page=pcb
Scroll down to the sentence "Now it's time to make the developer." to read about the silicate developer.

Oh, and if you notice anything wrong, tell me please.
 
Devil_H@ck

Devil_H@ck

Member
Joined 2003
members.lycos.nl/anthonyvh
Yes, lately I had a lot problem with my PCBs. Tracks where thin and thin tracks weren't even there at all, so when I read about the silicate developer I decided to try it. Finaly I can make PCBs with small tracks again :).

I'm pretty happy with the ferric chloride so far. Except for the fact that it stains everything it comes into contact with, I like it a lot. It doesn't overetch, which is pretty handy :). Tell me, does this etchant of you overetch? If it doesn't I might give it a try (although with all the warnings it looks a bit dangerous).
 
Devil_H@ck

Devil_H@ck

Member
Joined 2003
members.lycos.nl/anthonyvh
richie00boy said:
The developer I have is Sodium Metasilicate. Do I need to do something with this or do I already have the nice stuff?

PS. As for etching I have used Sodium Persulphate with fantastic results (after sorting out an exposure/developing problem!).
Click to expand...
Consider yourself lucky, you have the nice stuff :). This is supposed to be the formula of the concentrate: sodium metasilicate pentahydrate (Na2SiO3*5H2O) (of course the numbers should be subscript).


till said:
anybody who could tell me a good printer/ transparency combination to make really sharp and fine lines?
Click to expand...
Hm, I don't know. I use a really crappy Epson Stylus Color 800 and the standard inktjet transparencies I can get at the store. I can make 10 mill lines, probably smaller if I really wanted to. The printer used to be good, but after 4-5 years of use it has become somewhat not so good :). The lines are always a bit smeared when I print, but the UV light seems to go right through it and I can never see the smearing on the copper traces.

One thing I noticed. The black of my Epson Stylus Color is really opaque but it prints a bit smeared. At work, my father's got a laser printer and it prints much sharper, but the black isn't as opaque. However, both give perfect end results (I always put 2 printsouts above each other), so I think any inktjet/laser printer should be OK. So, I suggest you don't try the fancy PCB transparencies right away.
 
OliverD

OliverD

Member
Joined 2002
Tell me, does this etchant of you overetch? If it doesn't I might give it a try (although with all the warnings it looks a bit dangerous)
Click to expand...

I never had problems regarding overetching. The etchant is very fast and won't eat up your thin traces.

The warnings are there to aid the unexperienced not to hurt themselves and to comply with forum rules - pretty much the same warnings apply for ferric chloride.
 
jackinnj

jackinnj

Member
Joined 2002
tech-diy.com
I'll also give it a try -- I use lab grade NaOH and if you aren't precise on the timing the board is a disaster

I have been using FeCl, but will try the peroxide HCl H2O also -- the bad thing about byproduct peroxides is that they are extremely unstable, can be explosive -- all of these etching processes release byproduct hdrogen so don't smoke!
 
S

Schaef

Member
Joined 2001
Devil_H@ck said:
I just want to inform everyone that I updated my tutorial on how to make PCBs with info about silicate developer.

Normally I wouln't make a new thread just to tell you about an update to my site, but this silicate developer is fantastic and I think that everyone who makes PCBs should know about it (for those of you who don't make them theirselves yet, start doing so right now ;)!).

Anyway, here's the link: http://members.lycos.nl/anthonyvh/index.php?page=pcb
Scroll down to the sentence "Now it's time to make the developer." to read about the silicate developer.

Oh, and if you notice anything wrong, tell me please.
Click to expand...


I've just started reading the developer section, and I'm putting on a grammar police hat here.

You dropped a word in the second sentence, I think the word is "have". (The sentence in question is: "First you to make silicate developing concentrate")

Next you have to "Put" on eye protection, not but it on. Stir has one "r". Actually, double-check several words' spelling. (You have an until with two l's in it)

Other than that, it looks pretty good, although as someone else asked about it, you might want to define or at least clarify water glass, as I would have the same question.

Also, Mozilla has some issues rendering the page as well.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I like the site and really appreciate it, but you asked for some pointers.
 
P

Petter

Member
Joined 2001
Very interesting, but something is missing

"Take 1 [???of what???] part (in ml) water glass and 4 parts (in ml) distilled water."

There must be some silicate stuff that needs to go here and as such I am unable to produce this good stuff without this information.

I too welcome your idea for developer which makes it hard to overdevelop.

Petter
 
Devil_H@ck

Devil_H@ck

Member
Joined 2003
members.lycos.nl/anthonyvh
Re: Very interesting, but something is missing

Schaef said:
I've just started reading the developer section, and I'm putting on a grammar police hat here.

You dropped a word in the second sentence, I think the word is "have". (The sentence in question is: "First you to make silicate developing concentrate")

Next you have to "Put" on eye protection, not but it on. Stir has one "r". Actually, double-check several words' spelling. (You have an until with two l's in it)

Other than that, it looks pretty good, although as someone else asked about it, you might want to define or at least clarify water glass, as I would have the same question.

Also, Mozilla has some issues rendering the page as well.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I like the site and really appreciate it, but you asked for some pointers.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I appreciate it! I think I fixed most things. If you know of any decend online spell checker, tell me please. Notepad doesn't have one and Words tends to screw up all HTML documents you throw at it.

I also added the info about the water glass.

I'm aware that some browsers then to render the page weird, but I'd have to completely redo the layout to fix it. I guess I'll need to do that then :).

Petter said:
"Take 1 [???of what???] part (in ml) water glass and 4 parts (in ml) distilled water."

There must be some silicate stuff that needs to go here and as such I am unable to produce this good stuff without this information.

I too welcome your idea for developer which makes it hard to overdevelop.

Petter
Click to expand...
"1 part (in ml) water glass", but to make it more clear I changed it to "1 part (in ml) of water glass"

I hope there aren't any mistakes left. I ran it through a spelling corrector once, but it seems like it wasn't a very good one.
 
D

duch164

Member
Joined 2008
Silicate Developer

Hi Devil_H@ck

Can you tell me which type of water glas you use? I found that there are two main types of water glass on the market: Sodium - Na2SiO3 and Potassium - K2SiO3 with many different subtypes within each of them :(.
I already tried some Sodium water glass and the effect was not as expected. The developer was quite aggressive - similar to that
based on NaOH....

Regards
duch164
 
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