My First Etch!

[pappasmurfsharem]

I just recently opened a topic (index.php?topic=103657.0) for how I should go about etching a board with the tools I had available. The pickins were slim to begin with. I have the copper clad (not sensitized), no laser printer, no uv light. Doesn't leave a whole lot of options other than handdrawing which was recommended in the thread in the link.

This would have been a great idea if:

• A. Drawing a small part count board, or one where space wasn't a concern
• B. I didn't have very shaky hands

I made an attempt but it was awful trying to draw out Rick's (frequencycentral's) Zen Drive layout by hand.

So I decided to take a run to Fedex Kinko's (copy place) up the road. For whatever reason I couldn't get Rick's layout to print the proper size using 300dpi (recommended by another user) or resizing to 48% (Rick's Suggestion). I ended up redrawing it in DIYLC and printing it from there so I knew it was the correct size.

I asked the gentleman at the copy store to put it on their Glossy text laser paper (it's the only glossy standard paper option they had apart from poster paper...etc) I also had them make a copy on standard 32LB Laser paper since he said it was a fairly dense material. I told him I needed it as DARK as possible which he did no problem.

I ironed them on for about 2-3 minutes with my IRON on high. Both worked actually the Glossy was "perfect". The standard paper worked well but a few areas were a little thin and the paper fibers pulled "some" of the toner off. It would work however with a careful touch.



I etched using Ferric Chloride from Ratshack, and the sponge method on Instructables (http://m.instructables.com/id/Sponge-Ferric-Chloride-Method-Etch-Circuit-Bo/).

I had a hard time finding a 1/32" drill bit in the store. They looked at me like I was crazy and said the smallest they had was 1/16" (which was just too large) and that I could probably only find one in a doctor's office  .

I found a 1/32" in a small Dremel bit set for around $8. Which also included a 3/64" bit and then standard sized from there.  In my Harbor Freight drill press; I drilled using the 3/64" bit (0.046*" or 1.19*mm), since I know some of my Caps had fatter then average legs on them.

[armdnrdy]

Alright!!!

Now get one of these:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_247825-353-5000220-01_0__?productId=1238685&cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-Tools-_-RotaryToolsOscillatingTools-_-1238685&CAWELAID=1368012912&kpid=1238685+&"cagpspn=pla"

and an assortment of carbide bits from ebay.

There's a seller that I've purchased from in the past if you want a lead.

Drill sizes:
#70/.711mm/.0280" for just about every component.
#65/.889mm/.0350" for 24ga wire holes and most everything else
an assortment of a bit larger sizes for big caps, voltage TO220 regulators and the like.

[pappasmurfsharem]

Alright!!!

Now get one of these:

http://www.lowes.com/pd_247825-353-5000220-01_0__?productId=1238685&cm_mmc=SCE_PLA-_-Tools-_-RotaryToolsOscillatingTools-_-1238685&CAWELAID=1368012912&kpid=1238685+&"cagpspn=pla"

and an assortment of carbide bits from ebay.

There's a seller that I've purchased from in the past if you want a lead.

Drill sizes:
.70mm for just about every component.
.65mm for 24ga wire holes and most everything else
an assortment of a bit larger sizes for big caps, voltage TO220 regulators and the like.

I was going to buy one but my play money was already going to a dremel 3000 for $45 on craigslist! I will though for sure.

And yes please post up those links I'm sure others might be interested unless you want to keep it a secret then you can PM me  .

Also any way to keep the toner from staining the board? I used actual nail polish remover, is industrtial acetone (blue and yellow can) better for the staining? I know the nail polish has a few additives in it so I figure it probably would.

[armdnrdy]

Acetone and a paper towel.

Put a liberal amount of acetone on the towel the first time to remove the bulk of the toner, and then give it another go with a fresh paper towel wetted with more acetone to clean off the residual toner that you are referring to.

I've tried nail polish remover......doesn't work as well. It's watered down acetone with fragrance and other goodies added.
If you want your boards to smell good...try a splash of Old Spice!  

[armdnrdy]

This is the drill guy that I've purchased from on ebay than direct from his site:

http://drillbitsunlimited.com/

[GGBB]

That looks awesome!  Way better even than the example in the instructable, which was a little rough around the edges.  As I am preparing to try my hand at etching boards for the first time, I am encouraged by your results with the sponge method, so thanks for sharing that.

[kingswayguitar]

good job

[CodeMonk]

I usually get my drill bits from drillbit city:

http://drillcity.stores.yahoo.net/10milpac3531.html

[Mustachio]

Looks great! I think everyone covered all the stuff about drill bits etc. I usually use a #68 #69. If your in a bind I think Menards, Harbor freight sells some wire size drills in a multi variety pack for like 3 bucks. Those ones wont last and are just good if you need a backup or something right then.

I think I've bought some from drillcity on ebay. Can't remember but I did get some nice ones on ebay. Those ones with the numbers and the bigger shafts are nice for the drill press!

Now all you need is a laser printer for at home. The Canon I suggested is great and cheap!

I'll have to look again, for some reason I remember the radioshack etchant had a few diff types of acid in there with the FeCl, Maybe thats why the etch came out so nice . It works pretty good I gotta say and I been re-using it saving it in an old cleaned out protein shake plastic canister. Doing the sponge method should last you for a long time too!

[SonicVI]

Get the Dremel workstation/drillpress too! It made drilling so much easier and more precise for me.

[mistahead]

All these good ideas are giving me the etch, acid I'd stay with vero though...

[armdnrdy]

I've purchased carbide bits from this guy as well.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/150848104438?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_1364wt_837

[bluebunny]

All these good ideas are giving me the etch, acid I'd stay with vero though...

Ba-dum, tish!  Vero funny.      Now get yer coat and into the taxi...

If you want your boards to smell good...try a splash of Old Spice! 

LOL!  Nice PCB paint job, à la John Lyons, some chintzy cushions, ...  Where will it end? 

BTW, good job in your first etch.

[R O Tiree]

That looks very good, period. Let alone your first etch ever. Sweet work.

Time to invest in a reasonably-priced laser printer of your own, perhaps? Once you have that down pat, you could look at photo-resist, which enables you to get smaller traces.

Cheers.

[haveyouseenhim]

Great job!  I wish my first etch looked like that. You missed a hole though

I was lucky to find two laser printers in a dumpster that work great.

[Mustachio]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention about removing the toner, I have some of that really strong acetone they sell in the big tin. It works good but its really strong. The warnings on the label say it all(brain damage). And don't get it on your hands cause it will dry em out pretty good. Also don't wear regular plastic/rubber gloves cause it will melt em. You need nitrile gloves with that stuff.

So lately I been using just steel wool brillo style pads with the blue soap in em. I just use warm water and that and it takes it off faster then the acetone. You can also use just a little acetone to soften the toner then steel wool it up. I was worried at first it might mess up the traces but after trying it I don't see how it could(unless you went all cwazy on it  ).

[pappasmurfsharem]

Great job!  I wish my first etch looked like that. You missed a hole though

I was lucky to find two laser printers in a dumpster that work great.

Hehe I know.

I was populating the board and was like oh shit where's the hole. Then I saw visions of all that work going down the drain thinking I missed a trace when redrawing it in DIYLC, but I was just a quick pop under the drill press and good2go.

I'm thinking about doing a recording of 6-8 different Op Amps in it. I have the breadboard connected to the DIP socket and was playing around last night. You'd be surprised how easily some of our standard choices pick up interference.

[haveyouseenhim]

Great job!  I wish my first etch looked like that. You missed a hole though

I was lucky to find two laser printers in a dumpster that work great.

I was populating the board and was like oh sh*t where's the hole.

Lol. I was hoping you would see my comment before you started populating. It can be a PITA sometimes to drill a populated board.

[tubegeek]

Sooooo....

I've been into electronics for a while now, started as a teenager in the Guitar Player Craig Anderton column days.

Today I am a man.

I, too, just completed my first etch.

NO WAY am I going to post a photo - it's all f'ed up. Learning a lot though. Hope to learn more.

It's a little board about 2" square that takes phantom power and turns it into polarizing voltage for electret mics. Not too complicated, but enough so that I'd like to have a board for it, plus I want to make up several and give them to some friends along with a pair of the cheap electret mics and see how they do with them. The schematic and mic mods I'm using are here:

http://mp3forkidz.com/mic/phantxy.html

As f'ed up as it was, I was still able to populate and solder the circuit up very quickly. I used the component leads to bolster the half-etched-off copper traces - basically I ended up using the board and the holes and not so much the traces. Easy enough for a dyed-in-the-wool point-to-point guy like me. But not exactly what I had been hoping for, and ugly as sin.

I tried the following process: I made a layout using a drawing program, and printed it actual size. I taped it to the board and poked all the component holes with an Xacto knife. Then I drew the traces with a resist pen that came with my etching kit, a Dykem Action 33 recommended for the purpose. Traces were drawn solidly and reasonably thick, I thought. I drilled the holes and then touched up their edges with the pen.

I used the sponge-on method for applying the FeCl etchant, and I warmed both the board and the etchant. My result was that a lot of the resist came off with the etchant. So the traces were partially etched, by the time the exposed copper was fully etched.

It had dried overnight and I used the slot in my toaster for a short time to warm the board, and warm water to warm the etchant. (I didn't put the board IN the toaster, I sat it above the slot with the toaster on, for maybe a minute or so.)

I think I must have warmed the board too zealously and softened the resist material. Does that seem likely to all of you experienced etchers?

Thanks to smallbear for the excellent PCB etching kit and the super service - now I just have to figure out what I'm doing wrong. The kit is meant for toner transfer with the Press N'Peel paper, I will try that at some point but I wanted to give the resist pen method a try first.

[pappasmurfsharem]

Sooooo....

I've been into electronics for a while now, started as a teenager in the Guitar Player Craig Anderton column days.

Today I am a man.

I, too, just completed my first etch.

NO WAY am I going to post a photo - it's all f'ed up. Learning a lot though. Hope to learn more.

It's a little board about 2" square that takes phantom power and turns it into polarizing voltage for electret mics. Not too complicated, but enough so that I'd like to have a board for it, plus I want to make up several and give them to some friends along with a pair of the cheap electret mics and see how they do with them. The schematic and mic mods I'm using are here:

http://mp3forkidz.com/mic/phantxy.html

As f'ed up as it was, I was still able to populate and solder the circuit up very quickly. I used the component leads to bolster the half-etched-off copper traces - basically I ended up using the board and the holes and not so much the traces. Easy enough for a dyed-in-the-wool point-to-point guy like me. But not exactly what I had been hoping for, and ugly as sin.

I tried the following process: I made a layout using a drawing program, and printed it actual size. I taped it to the board and poked all the component holes with an Xacto knife. Then I drew the traces with a resist pen that came with my etching kit, a Dykem Action 33 recommended for the purpose. Traces were drawn solidly and reasonably thick, I thought. I drilled the holes and then touched up their edges with the pen.

I used the sponge-on method for applying the FeCl etchant, and I warmed both the board and the etchant. My result was that a lot of the resist came off with the etchant. So the traces were partially etched, by the time the exposed copper was fully etched.

It had dried overnight and I used the slot in my toaster for a short time to warm the board, and warm water to warm the etchant. (I didn't put the board IN the toaster, I sat it above the slot with the toaster on, for maybe a minute or so.)

I think I must have warmed the board too zealously and softened the resist material. Does that seem likely to all of you experienced etchers?

Thanks to smallbear for the excellent PCB etching kit and the super service - now I just have to figure out what I'm doing wrong. The kit is meant for toner transfer with the Press N'Peel paper, I will try that at some point but I wanted to give the resist pen method a try first.

Try the "Kinkos method" Get it on whatever glossy laser paper they normally use and say you need it as dark as possible. Then iron for 3-4 minutes on high. Make sure you "polish" the board with scotch bright pad or steel wool.

I didn't need to heat the etchant at all with the sponge method. It's not as fast as the instructables says but it was only about 4-5 minutes of sponging.

Print out a bunch of boards on 1 sheet of paper at home and have them copy it on the gloss paper. It's only like $0.22 for a copy and you could easily get 5-15 boards on a sheet.