I found my new toner transfer paper!

[davent]

I just use the cheap flourescent light fixture I have over my workbench for my photoresist boards.  Nothing special about the bulbs.  They are several years old and have a nice coating of sawdust on them.  I mount a scrap piece of wood about two inches away from the bulbs with a sling of masking tape and then put the board on it under a piece of glass.  Exposure takes about four minutes.

...

+1 on ordinary flourescent tubes.

Above my workbench ~9min. for exposure. Piece of plexglass screwed to the joists.

[garcho]

^ nice!

I'm excited to try this method one of these days. It seems like it would make SMT transfers better, too, something else I've been meaning to get to, once I finally get around to some DSP. Ay yay yay...

[jubal81]

Never tried it, but I always thought these things would be perfect:

UV Acrylic Curing Nail Timer Dryer Pro Polish

[tubegeek]

This was a very good etching experience - I gave up on sticker paper and plunked down 13 bucks for 250 sheets of the H-P Presentation Paper, recommended in this thread. This worked quite well, take a look.

This is what it looked like after etching, with the toner still attached. You can see my spot repairs made with a Staedtler Lumicolor pen, the choice of such luminaries as Mark Hammer and Salvador Dali:



This is what the board looked like after I stripped off the toner (you are looking at the cleaned-off copper side, backlit):




This is my best etch ever by far - the detail is far better than I've ever achieved. Both the negative-space lettering and the copper lettering are very well detailed - that lettering is very tiny. The whole (double ) board is 3" x 4" to give you a sense.

Score one for H-P Presentation Paper and papasmurfsharem!

In a frustrating turn of events, I'm having trouble finding where I put my Dremel - as soon as I do I can start populating these boards!

Anybody know where it is?

[thom]

I'll ask my GF.
Somehow, she knows where pretty much anything is.

[tubegeek]

Phew. Thanks!

[pappasmurfsharem]

Phew. Thanks!

That letter is impressive.

Glad to assist, best of luck in future etches

[glops]

I bought some of the hp glossy presentation paper last week. Did about 10 boards. Easy to iron. I was able to use less heat. After ironing I put the copper clad in the fridge for 20 minutes and then it peeled right off. Great results.

I also did a 1590dd enclosure last week. Came out perfect. I was impatient with the fridge so I dipped it in cold water and had to rub out some of the paper but I think if I let it cold down more in the fridge it would peel off. Nice thick transfer. I etch pretty deep and it came out perfectly. Ill post a pic.

PNP is a waste of money. This stuff is cheap for the amount of paper you get. Great find, pappa!

[Mark Hammer]

My experience is that the shinier the photo paper, the better the transfer.  In principle, that's because shinier surfaces uses an emulsion with smaller particle-size, and presumably smaller paper-fibre size as well.

What allows PnP to yield such good resolution is that the acetate backing permits very fine resolution.  Not only does the smooth surface allow for better (more complete/continuous) heat transfer of the toner pattern, but also allows it to separate from the backing with finer resolution.  If you can get super shiny paper that does that, you're in business.

[sacal]

Dead topic I know, but maybe one of the old posters can help me out.

Just recieved some HP presentation paper today and did my first transfer. Not great, but totally impressed with what came out so it must be my technique right!  Was just wondering what heat setting you use on the iron, how long people heat the paper first and how long they rub with the iron once heated? Or maybe you have a different technique you could share.

My first try came out a bit spotty where some pin sized spots didn't stick and also some movement with my heavy handedness. I have 299 sheets left so i'll start practising while I wait for the wisdom.

I can already see how good this paper is so I think it's worth boosting this thread a little as some newcomers such as myself might not have found this post yet.

Thanks to all for sharing this in the first place!!!!

[Mark Hammer]

I've been using this stuff of late:  http://www.dipmicro.ca/store/TRANSFER-PAPER-YELLOW
Not as cheap as photo paper, but much cheaper than PnP.  I get the same precision as with PnP, although PnP holds up better during storage.  If you're going to print off the pattern/s you want and then transfer and etch right away it's great.  If you were going to print off a bunch of patterns, cut them out and stick them in an envelope for later use, PnP might be a better - if pricier - alternative.

My own criterion for choice of medium is that if the pads are big and there are no traces running too close to anything, I get more than acceptable results with photo-paper or other fibrous-backed media.  Once you start to get traces running between IC pads, then you need the precision of PnP or the stuff I linked to.

[karbomusic]

Thanks for the info.

I'm still using the HP presentation, after using that for about a year now, I could never go back to PnP as PnP has too many peculiarities and issues comparatively FWIW. Once I found the workflow, the HP paper is better than PnP even as good precision wise from what I can tell (I've done 6 mil traces with it). And on top of all that... Price difference: PnP ~2.00/Sheet, HP ~0.03/Sheet. I might try what you posted out sometime as well but I'm sort of addicted to the HP right now.

[bloxstompboxes]

Been using the HP presentation paper too along with my modified scotch laminator. I'll never go back to the iron unless the laminator breaks. Then, I'll still get a new one.

[EBK]

my modified scotch laminator.

I'd like to hear more about this.

[John Lyons]

I'm curious as well.   

[bloxstompboxes]

my modified scotch laminator.

I'd like to hear more about this.

and

I'm curious as well.   

Thought I had talked about this before until everyone was sick of it, but ok, glad to be of help to someone. About a year or more ago, I saw a video on youtube and gave it a shot. You buy a cheap scotch brand laminator from wal-mart. I think it was like 20 bucks. You open it up and find the temp sensor, thermocouple, whatever. On mine it was just two white wires to the sensor which was located somewhere near the middle of the unit on the face side, I believe. You cut the wire and solder in series a 1k or or 1.1k resistor. The guy talks about that in the video. It allows the temperature to get high enough to melt the toner properly. Then just wrap your cut-to-size piece of copper clad with your hp presentation paper printed with your layout and run it through about 6 times on the 5 mil setting. Let it cool, then put it in some soapy water and the rest is the usual.


Here is the original thread with the video attached as well:

NOTE: PRR mentions the dangers possible and I suggest you proceed with caution!!!

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=108847.msg993459#msg993459


J0K3RX, Fndr8875, and stringsthings all use this method I think too.

Found this thread were I talked about it and someone posted a link to someone who did an instructable too:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=112916.msg1044011#msg1044011

I hope this proves helpful to you guys in some way.