Simple Decals using only paper

[bioroids]

Glossy paper can be photo paper, and semi-glossy works too (and its cheaper).

Dac, I believe you are from Chile? Glossy paper es el papel que tiene un lado brillante, puede ser para chorro de tinta o laser (la impresion la tenes que hacer en laser si o si, o en fotocopiadora), lo compras en casi cualquier casa de libreria. Hay uno marca HP semi-glossy que es muy bueno, y sirve para transferir pcbs como si fuera PNP

Miguel

[QSQCaito]

Soy de al lado, de Argentina. Voy a ver si consigo ese de HP smi glossy.. tiene que haber.. me contas como es eso para transferir pcb?? me solucionaria muchos problemas

gracias

bye, chau

dac

[disto]

gez ill have to try the pcb with photopaper soon thats sounds easier that the pnp method.

i found ordinary paper works fine for the transfer on plastic by the way

[brett]

Hi
You gotta be so carfeful with this stuff.  Mostly highly flammable.

Local guy had enough thinners on his hand for his cigarette to set fire to it.  Ouch!
Of course, he rushed to put out his cigarette, but in his state of fright knocked the can of thinners over and set fire to it all.
All this was under his car.  By the time his mate dragged him out of the fireball he had major burns.
Of course, the car caught fire.
Unfortunately, the car was under his house.
So he's in intensive care with serious burns, and his car and house are burnt out.  Poor bastard.

[bioroids]

Bueno, entonces somos compatriotas  El papel glossy o semi glossy lo conseguis seguro, en casas que vendan articulos de libreria, cartuchos de impresora, etc.

Para transferir PCBs haces de cuenta que el papel es PNP, lo imprimis con la laser (la imagen debe estar invertida) y le pasas la plancha caliente unos minutos, haciendo buena presion sobre toda la superficie. La plaqueta virgen debe estar bien limpia y es conveniente rasparla un poco con virulana. Despues sumergis la plaqueta con el papel (se pega solo) en una palangana con agua tibia hasta que el papel se desprenda. Con un poco de practica podes hacer plaquetas perfectas de este modo. No se necesita thinner ni nada por el estilo.

Saludos

Miguel

Soy de al lado, de Argentina. Voy a ver si consigo ese de HP smi glossy.. tiene que haber.. me contas como es eso para transferir pcb?? me solucionaria muchos problemas

gracias

bye, chau

dac

[The Tone God]

As I mentioned earlier terms like "thinner" and "spirits" are NOT standard. This is an international forum so those terms will vary from place to place so I encourage the used of actual chemical names to help make things clear for others.

Acetone is very nasty stuff. It will react with alot of different things and would be overkill in many of applications. I don't think I would use it in this application as I use acetone to remove toner from boards after I etch. My experince and thinking would leave me to belive that if I used acetone to transfer the image it would get messy.

I do remember from the "plain paper" article I read that the purpose of the alchol that the person used during the ironing process was to to keep the paper "wet" to stay flat on the surface, as the heat alone would cause the paper to buckle, while not interfering with the bonding process of the toner. Mind you the article was not in english so I was attempting to translate on the fly.

Andrew

[GibsonGM]

Just as an FYI,  The best definition I can find for mineral spirits is:

A refined petroleum distillate (150-200°C) having a low aromatic hydrocarbon content, with volatility, flash point, and other properties making it suitable as a thinner and solvent. Also known as petroleum spirits.

It would be finer in clarity than gasoline (petrol), yet less refined than its constituents such as acetone, MEK, etc.   It is much less flammable than the compounds above, which are composed of much lighter molecules with lower flashpoints.  It's still moderately dangerous, but less so than xylene, acetone, etc.  Evaporates a little slower, too 

[gez]

I don't think I would use it in this application as I use acetone to remove toner from boards after I etch. My experince and thinking would leave me to belive that if I used acetone to transfer the image it would get messy

As far as making PCBs goes, acetone is fine (it was a pretty common technique on one forum I came across when researching this).  Wetting the paper transfers the image to the copper board; so long as you allow it to dry things won't get messy.

[bioroids]

I do the transfers dry, and it works fine. I would think its dangerous to apply the iron heat to these flamable stuff...

Luck

Miguel

[The Tone God]

As far as making PCBs goes, acetone is fine (it was a pretty common technique on one forum I came across when researching this).  Wetting the paper transfers the image to the copper board; so long as you allow it to dry things won't get messy.

Interesting. Thanks for that information Gez.

I do the transfers dry, and it works fine. I would think its dangerous to apply the iron heat to these flammable stuff...

I might have to do some experimenting now. As for flammables I don't think the iron gets hot enough or if working properly provides a source of ignition but it is still taking a chance so the question is do you feel lucky punk ?



Andrew

[gez]

As far as making PCBs goes, acetone is fine (it was a pretty common technique on one forum I came across when researching this).  Wetting the paper transfers the image to the copper board; so long as you allow it to dry things won't get messy.

Interesting. Thanks for that information Gez.

Just remember to soak in warm water after drying to remove the paper.  Plus use 'coated' paper.

It works really well, but I don't own a Laser printer and photocopies came out slightly smaller so I moved on to photoboard.

[The Tone God]

Just remember to soak in warm water after drying to remove the paper.  Plus use 'coated' paper.

By "coated paper" do you mean the glossy photo paper many people use ?

Andrew

[gez]

Just remember to soak in warm water after drying to remove the paper.  Plus use 'coated' paper.

By "coated paper" do you mean the glossy photo paper many people use ?

Andrew

That's the stuff Andrew.  From what I gather the glossy stuff is coated in clay and that's why 'lift off' is easier (normal paper leaves bits stuck to the board).

Place it face down on a blank, dab on acetone with cotton wool until saturated (it'll stick to the board so don't worry about it moving about), allow to dry (10 mins max) then soak in warm water for a minute or two.  The paper should then simply lift off, leaving the toner on the blank.

I used nail-polish remover (even the acetone free stuff worked).

[The Tone God]

Cool. Thanks again for the information Gez. I'll have to schedule some time to experiment with this. I'll report my findings when I am finished for everyone.

Andrew

[gez]

The advantage of the method I outlined is the toner is transfered but there's no expansion of the copper, like you get when using the ironing method, so you don't get shrinkage when the metal cools down.  Not critical for most circuits, but for intricate stuff (SMD) it can make a difference.