Ink Jet Madness!!!

[darrylportelli]

Hey guys
I Have a working inkjet which my dad doesnt want and so I decided to try to modify it to print directly onto pcb's. This has actually been done and I'd like to try it out. Have any of you got an idea of where to start? a problem that rises is that ink jet ink is water soluble and only one company makes water resistant ink. To solve this, tomorrow I'm gonna try permanent marker ink thinned out to the same consistency as ink jet ink and see what happens then we continue from there. If this works it would be killer since it saves TIME and does even hairline tracks from what I've found out.
If anyone has already tried it here pls guide me a little.
Thanks

[theehman]

You, Sir, are mad!!

Good luck w/ this and keep us posted!

[darrylportelli]

Yep you said it But hey it WOULD be cool.

[darrylportelli]

http://techref.massmind.org/techref/pcb/etch/cx4200-vs.htm      on this site they do what I wanna do but I havent a clue where to start

[hday]

Sounds like a very creative idea. I guess the design of the printer will really affect how well it will print onto the board. I'm not convinced that thinned marker ink will work well for etching. I'd check an art supply store for ink. I know India ink is waterproof and VERY cheap. Dick Blick makes a really cheap India ink called Black Cat that is very high quality.

http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-black-cat-waterproof-india-ink/

I've had a 3 oz bottle for a long time. It's pretty thick, so you might want to thin it a bit with water, but I'm not sure how waterproof that would be. Definitely experiment with etching before trying to get the ink into the cartridge.

[theehman]

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Inkjet_PCB_Construction/

[darrylportelli]

hey
10x for the replies. If I dont find waterproof ink Ill definitly give the india ink a try.
Now on how to modify the printer any suggestions??
I have an hp deskjet 710c(so you know how it feeds and chucks out the paper)
From the back there is an opening where you could feed the paper directly. tomorrow Ill try feeding a piece of paper from the back, if it works Ill tape a piece of pcb and see what happens If that doesnt work Ill start chopping and hot rodding. I definitly want this to work!!!
Thanks

[trendyironicname]

i've been looking at how they do those diy direct to garment printers for tshirts and stuff trying to modify one to print directly on a white pedal.  haven't gotten far because of school and other projects but as soon as i get anything decent, i'll share here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a14zELKPw8M

[rotylee]

i was wondering if sublimation ink would work.
http://www.sawgrassink.com/v.php?pg=32

also heat transfer vs print right on copper would give different results.