First pcb etching success!

[billstein]

Thanks Davent. Coming from you I take that as a great compliment.  I love your stuff.

I always use acetone on the copper after etching and before tinning to remove any oil. Then  let it soak in the tin solution for 5 minutes. Sometimes it comes out blotchy, if it does I take #0000 steel wool and buff it a bit, usually that will even it out. Then Enviro and you're good to go.

Hopefully that all makes sense. I'm sitting in a parking lot in my car on my phone with an eye infection that's making it difficult to see.

[Guybrush]

What do you guys use to transfer the image onto the copper? Are you using press n peel or something else?

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[davent]

Photosensitized boards for me. (Exposure with regular flourescent tubes.)
dave

[selfdestroyer]

What do you guys use to transfer the image onto the copper? Are you using press n peel or something else?

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Here is my tutorial I made and I have all the products I use listed.
http://music.codydeschenes.com/?page_id=1388

But you will find that everyone has their own "process" that works best for them. I think its more about finding what works best for you.

Cody

[miter53]

Great tutorial, Cody...wish I had seen it earlier. Probably would have saved me some frustration.

[miter53]

What do you guys use to transfer the image onto the copper? Are you using press n peel or something else?

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I tried (in no particular order) 3 or 4 kinds of magazine paper, HP Everyday photo paper (saw it recommended once or twice, but appears to be reformulated. My iron melted the paper back!), Clearprint vellum, and Canon Glossy Photo paper, which is what finally worked. Could be my technique improved over many tries, and the Canon paper just happened to be the one where it came together. I'll probably try Pulsar paper since I can get a pack at Mouser next time I'm ordering from them. It's supposed to be much easier to remove after ironing. The Canon paper was a bit of a nuisance to get off, and in fact I left some traces behind that resulted in a couple of bridges. One I spotted pretty fast, but the other I didn't catch until testing the circuit. I've also ordered some of the A4 sized transfer paper from Hong Kong that you can find on EB. I've seen some positive comments about it and it's not very expensive.

The Cosmo sounds awesome btw...

Mike

[alanp]

It sure does! It's worth trying different germanium NPN's in it, if you can get 'em.