Apr
23
Etching PCBs without Ferric Chloride
I came across this tutorial a while ago detailing how to etch PCBs using common household chemicals instead of ferric chloride. Being a lazy person who doesn’t want to drive out to Sayal (in Cambridge) to get ferric chloride, I decided to give it a shot and take pictures documenting the attempt. Here’s the result:
Pouring muriatic acid into the etchant (add the peroxide first)
The design printed onto magazine paper (for toner transfer)
Loaded into the heat press
Using the press to transfer the toner onto the board
Cooling the board down before removing the paper
Paper carefully removed from the board to keep the toner intact
The other side
Freshly made etchant starts to turn green as it absorbs copper from the board
Starting to etch the copper off the board
The front of the (almost) finished board
The reverse side of the (almost) finished board
As can be seen from the last picture, I left the board in the etchant a little too long (it was more active than I expected). Apparently, after a few uses it becomes a little slower acting, although I’ve considered using this effect to somehow watermark my boards.
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Very promising results! I use the toner transfer method myself, though I use glossy inkjet photo paper. I find that proper cleaning and prep of the blank PCB have a huge effect on how well the toner sticks, and how resistant it is to over-etching.
Yeah… I’ve been experimenting with photo paper, but it doesn’t seem to be working as well (the toner isn’t transferring well). I’m going to try it again today. I’m hoping that a cleaning with acetone and a longer time in the press at lower heat will do the job.
The idea is that the photo paper is less work and runs less risk of jamming the printer (again).
So… the stuff doesn’t work so well if it’s been sitting around for a couple weeks. One of the guys at qi-hardware tells me it’s probably the oxygen being used up. I’ll see if I can find a way of rejuvenating it without adding more peroxide (and watering it down in the process).
That said, the PCB supplier I found makes prototype boards so cheaply, it’s almost not worth it (almost).
see also: from hackerspace: lvl1.org
http://www.lvl1.org/2011/05/03/toner-transfer-and-muriatic-acid-etchant-making-pcbs-at-lvl1/
jsquared