DIY PCB production - No heat transfer

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After many many attempts at trying to achieve good results with various paper and heat transfer I gave up.


However, I've just been surfing the internet and came across this ingenious and simple solution. I've yet to try it but I can't see why it shouldn't work.


I also imagine that the same technique could be used to print front and rear panels.


YouTube
 
After many many attempts at trying to achieve good results with various paper and heat transfer I gave up.


I used the blue plastic sheets "press n peel" to do several pcbs, no probs, see www.ronlin.co.uk


a couple of tips:make sure the toner powder is "fresh" as this adhered to the pcb much better, and set the laser printer to maximize its toner output ie turn off "eco mode" etc it should print very dark, some printers just cant print solid black in over large areas.
 
I've had problems with them too as all of my printers, (laser, inkjet & gel transfer) do not make an image opaque enough.

I find laser printers work best, and regardless of which printer type (and corresponding transparency) I have found the same.

However the solution is simple. Use two transparency overlaid, taped together to align.

Using this method, and a suitable UV exposure box, I get near professional finish, down to trace widths of 15 thou, with CIF etch resist boards, 210 seconds exposure time.
 

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After many many attempts at trying to achieve good results with various paper and heat transfer I gave up.


However, I've just been surfing the internet and came across this ingenious and simple solution. I've yet to try it but I can't see why it shouldn't work.


I also imagine that the same technique could be used to print front and rear panels.


YouTube
I am *successfully* using a cold/solvent based transfer, works very well and gave up ironing, I get perfect toner transfer, but the one you showed does NOT work, except by sheer chance, because it applies solvent to the unprinted side, it must go through toner, then fully dissolve it (or the face touching copper will be dry) or at least sneak around tracks and pads (notice he uses *narrow* tracks) and only then melt and make sticky the contact surface, a mess.

I´ll search and post here the method I use for prototypes (before actually comitting to silkscreening for real production) but it basically wets *copper* surface with a mix of ethyl alcohol (94% or 190 proof medicinal/grain alcohol) and a toner solvent.
They use acetone, I found it too volatile so mix % changes all the time, so I use far slower evaporation Toluene, which to boot is an excellent Toner solvent.
 
Toner always has minor pinholes, and on an old printer even minor scratches, "fingerprints" on the drum, dust, whatever ... plus plain basic being out of toner.

That said, both ironing and solvents partially melt toner so it slightly spreads "sideways" so it fills small scratches and pinholes and in general covers better.

In fact, you´ll find in Graphic Arts shops a "Toner Blackener" spray, which actually does that, and shouldn´t be too different to the alcohol/acetone mix.

I pull the toner drum and shake it sideways a couple times to loosen old caked toner and to improve getting an even layer, if it´s real low you may have it reloaded or plain buy a new one.

My old trusty Lexmark is getting into the "letters only" duty and just bought the smallest cheapest Samsung *just* for Toner Transfer and silkscreen transparency printing duty, go figure.
 
Since this thread is about the NOW dreaded hurdle of PCB making, and I am now at the point of having to magically bring any PCBs I want into existence, I am writing here my "worries".


I am using a Linux based PCB making graphical program, although it seems more like a graphical frontend rather than a true application that does its own work. It says something about pcb-geda, whatever that is supposed to mean.


My seemingly impossible to crack hard nut, is to make a few single layer single sided PCBs. The graphical frontend to PCB making has a set of buttons to draw directly on a PCB like what one does on a piece of paper. It has lines, it has arcs, it also has holes, but no discs. It has something called a 'via', in Italian meaning a way, that looks like a disc, but I do not know whether that is suitable to be used as a pad for component pin soldering. Reading about it, I learnt, it is supposed to serve as some tunnel between layers. BUT, I have no layers, I only need a single sided single layer PCB.


Before taking the plunge to produce PCBs for the power stage, I need to know whether VIAS can serve the purpose of being used as component soldering pads. I will use through-hole component mounting, surface mount gives me the shivers!
 

PRR

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According to *this* : Getting PCB
"PCB" seems to be the basic program, and needs some GUI front end such as "gtk" to work.

It also is distributed as source code or something which somehow has to be compiled for your own computer, libraries downloaded and added, etc. , all that BEFORE being able to open it and placing a single resistor.

Al that previous work for somebody who is not a Software Geek but plain needs a PCB looks like madness, only suitable for masochists or people who does not care about the actual *electronics* use, just love endless tweaking for its own sake.

I suggest you dump it and get a real PCB program which can be plain downloaded , installed and used.

You already have a learning curve before you, do not add unneeded complexity to it.

Are you a true accolyte Linux User, or just used it because "PCB" requires it?

I would seriously consider using a Windoze based program, since there are *dozens* of them, of all degrees of complexity, pick what fits you, and to boot since they are popular there are often Forums discussing them, where you can ask for guidance (even inside DIY Audio of course) or at least see how do others "do it" .

just my 2 cents.
 
Did you look at the tutorial I linked? Does it look like what you have?
I am *trying* to understand the tutorial you thanfully linked. The unfortunately frequent problem with tutorials is command line and graphical interfaces change with versions. So, a tutorial may mention GUI items, widgets, keywords that are no longer used. This forces the reader, like myself, to make assumptions as to the meaning of the new terms, which is a huge time waster and definitely not helpful.


The more I struggle to learn how to make a PCB, ironically the modern way, the more I am getting convinced how convenient and time saving those Seno PCB rub-on transfers were!
 
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