Electronics > Beginners
Inexpensive & abunduntly available thermal transfer sheet for making PC boards
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ednspace:
I used to have good luck with Jameco covers ;)

Just recently I tried to make a board and it was just a nightmare. It turns out after looking under a microscope that the toner my printer was laying down was VERY spotty. No amount of tweaking the setting in the print driver seemed to fix things. I eventually traced over everything transferred with a sharpie and got a board but Jeez. With my old laser printer years ago I used to be able to pretty reliably get 8mil traces and 8mil spaces if I was careful.

Only did it this time because the artwork was available but the board files were not and I still had all the materials. In the end it probably would have been faster to redraw it and send it out. Still, it's a great trick to have in your tool bag when you really need it.

Good luck coming up with your system!
David Cutcher CEG:
Just a comment specific to the Epson Photo Ink Jet Paper.
Get a package and just try my method.  I find it "Student Simple." The two biggest errors are (1)not enough heat, (2) too much pressure as it cools, and squish the toner out.
And yes, it took me a while to perfect this, but it does work. And a 3X5 area should have no problem.
Keep in mind, you are separating the clay from the paper, not the toner from the clay.
I never did have success with magazine sheets. The pages in the mags I bought were just too flimsy. Maybe National Geographic. There's glossy & thick.
David Cutcher "Certified Evil Genius"
tkamiya:
I really wanted to do it the old fashion way, but materials are so hard to get.  Those die cut patterns and tapes are pretty much unavailable.  So I'm trying to learn Kicad.  I'm sure it's not hard but for a newbie to the modern world, it's a daunting task.

Since one 14pin IC is involved, it's really not practical to dremel the board.

I'm getting tired of making this piece in perf-board, so I'm going to try rolling my own board.

If anyone is curious, I made a 1 pps distribution board.  I will need to make several.  Although it's a simple board, hand-wiring takes few hours.  Circuit changes every time since I keep finding better ways to do it.  That's why I don't want to send it in to be made.  Besides, I used to be a darkroom photographer, so I'm sort of used to the process.
james_s:
I remember when I was using magazine paper large copper pours would often transfer the image printed on the catalog page onto the copper. Some of the printing inks would fill the pores in the toner and prevent any pitting. The ability to cover large pours depends heavily on the specific printer and the toner in it. Under ideal circumstances I've had some success but these days if I need a board like that I usually send it out.
KL27x:
I have my prototype board in the tank, right now. I was gonna mock up a large pour test board, but I remembered I have this:

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/hakko-888d-interface-fixed/msg875006/#msg875006

This isn't huge, but it's maybe a 2" circle that is 90% solid pour. Is this "pitted?" To my recollection, this is 1 oz copper. Not the easy half oz cheater board.
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