Re: short-run PCB fabs

jwelser@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu wrote:
>
> With all this talk about fab-ing PCBs, I'm surprised that
> no one mentioned doing it at home. The guy who sits next to me
> here downloaded a PS file with a PCB layout on it, xeroxed it on
> a sheet of that iron-on resist stuff, and etched it with etchant from
> Radio Shack, I believe. It turned out better than we both expected.
>
> The only limit is on the minimum size of the traces. I think
> it has to be relatively large (like the size of power/ground traces
> on video game PCBs.)
>
> BUT, looking at Clay's ESB layout, for instance, I think
> it would be possible to do that at home -- it would just take a
> bigger board. Not having seen a Quad-Pokey board, I can't even
> guess if it's possible, but I'm thinking of making my Cine.
> Exorcisor board this way.
>

I've done this at home, just like this. I've had mixed results. The
biggest problem for me at least, was drilling the holes accurately so
that you could actually fit a 40 pin IC on the board without bending the
pins every which way. If you are stuffing the board with small IC's, or
discreet components, the alignment issue is not much of a problem at
all.

Now that I have a milling machine, I can strap PCB's to the XY table and
machine the holes to within 0.001 inch tolerances. But, I imagine that
for most home setups, the drilling step is going to be a continual
challenge.

I too found that the line widths had to be large for the iron on
transfer stuff. I guess a little experimentation is in order to figure
out what you can and cannot do with your particular equipment and
methodologies.

Joel-
Received on Wed Nov 12 13:29:11 1997