Sterling Ultra Digital Paper - success

[bean]

Based on these two threads
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=83660.0
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=78859.0

I decided to try out the Sterling Digital paper mentioned by MicFarlow77. Initial test was VERY positive. My first go came out a bit rough, since I wasn't sure how much heat and pressure the paper could take. By my second try the result was very good. The paper combines kind of the best of PNP Blue and the Staples stuff: it's cheap and it comes off easy. Whereas the Staples stuff takes quite a bit of work to get off (I use a scrub brush) and PNP Blue is overpriced, this stuff is a good middle ground. Using high heat and even pressure, I was able to get great adhesion. The paper gets very brittle when heated, so you do have to take some care in making sure you even it out well enough over your copper clad. Removal was pretty easy too: after a few minutes in water I could lift most of it and roll the rest off with minimal thumb pressure.

One other caveat: if you are using a light colored backing, you'll find that when the transfer dries there is almost no contrast between the traces and backing. This proves a little more difficult for touch ups with a Sharpie, but so long as you have a good transfer the frustration level will be minimal. On dark colored board, it's not an issue--actually it helps a lot, especially with drilling.

Anyway, I purchased the paper here: http://www.ajandspaper.com/sterling-ultra-digital6.html

500 sheets for $15 is pretty near impossible to beat. Fair warning, I got zero communication from the company regarding shipping status. It just showed up via FedEx after about a week. No tracking or notification was provided. Other than that it went smooth.

Hopefully this info is helpful.