I occasionally etch a board at home. I use the pulsarpro kit toner transfer technique. Works fine.
As for etching : cut a 2 by 2 inch square of those blue household spunges. ( you know the yellow with one green sode scotchbrite ? There is a blue variation that is softer ).
Take a sturdy freezer bag with ziploc. Pour two tablespoons of fecl on the spunge. Put pcb and spung in ziploc bag, close bag.
Grab the sponge and dab it on the pcb ( do NOT use the scrubbing side ! Use the soft side ).
Dab hard enough to create foam.
Every time you pull the spunge of the board it reabsorbs all the etchant. Simply work your way over the board. No rubbing , dabbing is the key. You are essentially aerating the etchant and this speeds up the process. You can etch a 5 by 3 inch board in a few minutes like this. You dont come into contact with chemicals as everything stays inside the bag . You use a minute amount , two tablespoons. No spills. And it etches fast.
I really like Quinn's guide (but I also prefer toner transfer), as it's informative, easy, and funny as all get-out:
http://quinndunki.com/blondihacks/?p=835
I also prefer the H2O2 + vinegar + NaCl formula. It's cheap (about a buck for 16 fl. oz. of each, and salt is practically free), it's easy (equal parts liquids, add salt), and Quinn also addresses the whole "disposal problem" that others don't seem to mention.
Chasm
That is basically hydrochloric acid and peroxide.
Which emits chlorine and hydrogen chloride
And, as always with chemicals, know WTF you are doing - preferably before you are doing it.
I occasionally etch a board at home. I use the pulsarpro kit toner transfer technique. Works fine.
As for etching : cut a 2 by 2 inch square of those blue household spunges. ( you know the yellow with one green sode scotchbrite ? There is a blue variation that is softer ).
Take a sturdy freezer bag with ziploc. Pour two tablespoons of fecl on the spunge. Put pcb and spung in ziploc bag, close bag.
Grab the sponge and dab it on the pcb ( do NOT use the scrubbing side ! Use the soft side ).
Dab hard enough to create foam.
Every time you pull the spunge of the board it reabsorbs all the etchant. Simply work your way over the board. No rubbing , dabbing is the key. You are essentially aerating the etchant and this speeds up the process. You can etch a 5 by 3 inch board in a few minutes like this. You dont come into contact with chemicals as everything stays inside the bag . You use a minute amount , two tablespoons. No spills. And it etches fast.
I thought this method was supposed to be fast?
I thought this method was supposed to be fast?Heat will help.
If anything, SMD makes DIY boards more attractive. Drilling holes is the biggest bother. Even with a CNC machine, setting it up and changing drill bits is a bother.
Home etching is less popular than it was. Double sided, plated through holes and SMT technology are the reasons. However, a good overview can be found here:
http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/pcbs.html
I am pretty sure that the part about needing a different etchant to get a fine pitch has been disproven.
I started out using ferric in a shallow glass tray, and when my solution started to get old, I would shoot it with a heat gun. The solution was shallow enough that the air would expose the bare board as it heated/mixed the solution. It was easy to hit the slow spots and watch the copper stream away.
Adding acid and peroxide will also keep your ferric working a lot longer, but as some point you would need to add aeration or dump it and start over. (My cupric started life as ferric. I just never stopped using it. It's been through so many dilutions, it's pretty much pure cupric, now).
+1 on Pulsar. It feels like a crime to pay 1.50 for a sheet of paper, but the time and effort it saves is great.
I have just been neutralizing it with baking soda, filtering out the precipitate, and dumping the liquid down the sink. Probably not super eco-friendly, but I've only used about 100ml of ferric chloride so far.
I also print the transfer first on heavy stock paper (dead center), then cut out the center section around the transfer area and toss it. Next I cut a piece of dextrin paper the exact size of the hole, and then place a thick mailing label on the back to attach the dextrin paper to the larger sheet.
I have the Apache laminator. Now they apparently recommend a different laminator, looks higher quality, although I don't know if it gets as hot.