First Etches! Success!

[aziltz]

I've been working in EAGLE for a while, trying to perfect, or at least polish a few of my own layouts and today I finally took some time to etch some PCBs using Small Bear's Kit and Steve's instructions.

5/6 Worked.  I didn't iron enough the first time and so I lost a Blues Breaker, but I was able to save two Tube Screamers with the ink pen that's included in the kit!

I'll cut them apart tomorrow at work and drill them.




All in All I made two TS9/808/SD-1's from the Tonepad layout, an ODIE Layout of my own as well as a version of the Orange Squeezer with the Hartman External Bias Control.

I'll share my layouts once I verify that they work!

[aziltz]

FML!  I didn't mirror the layouts I made myself!  EPiC Fail!

well, the only one that really gets messed up is the IC in the OS.  Everything Else was discrete...

[Jarno]

LOL, that happened to me once, so I bent the IC legs all the way to the other side and put the IC in "belly up". 
By the way, I would cut the boards before etching, and not have all layouts on the uncut board, all the copper between layouts will need to be etched away as well, taking time and exhausting your etchant.

[aziltz]

thanks for the tip.  i didn't have any means to cut at home, and no means to drill, but i'll be cutting to size before hand in the future.

[Jarno]

This is what I use:

Although the glass content in the epoxy material blunts blades rather quickly.
I don't have a good pillar drill to drill the boards yet, I am underwhelmed by the Dremel stand, might buy the one from Proxxon.

[aziltz]

i have an ancient drill press in my lab, i'm hoping it holds those tiny drill bits!