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Vintage threads from the first ten years

can anyone tell me how to make PCB's?

3/1/2000 6:37 PM
blue	can anyone tell me how to make PCB's? I am new to effects building, and want to rebuild a DOD FX50B Overdrive Plus that was broken. ALl the parts are there, and I want to rebuild it. How do I make a new PCB? Where can I get good parts? What do I have to do about the Toner part of it? Please help! Thanks.

3/1/2000 8:15 PM
Daniel R. Haney	A good reference list is at: <http://www.us-epanorama.net/basics.html#pcb> Another link has a list of PC board manufacturors <http://www.mit.edu/people/bunnie/links.html> One of the board companies even has a prototyper's special offer: $60 for a 5x5" 2-sided pc board with plated-through holes (no silkscreen, no soldermask). -drh --

3/2/2000 12:14 AM
blue	Thanks Daniel!

3/2/2000 3:36 AM
Daniel R. Haney	[re: thanks] Some of the sites will sell you printer sheets so you can make your own single-sided boards from iron-on patterns produced on your laser printer. The real work is in drilling the board. This is okay for one off prototypes but less so if you want more. -drh --

3/2/2000 6:39 AM
Mark Hammer	Here's a somewhat simpler and cheaper way. 1) Photocopy both sides of the board (or scan them if you have the facilities. 2) tape the copy of the copper side of the board to a buffed piece of copper clad board (dry steel wool or #600-800 emery cloth will bring out the shine nicely) 3) Get yourself a springloaded centre-punch, set for medium tension, and pop little dimples in the board where every pad is. 4) Get yourself a waterproof overhead marker. Some recommend a "Sharpie", but these are generally too thick for many PC boards. I recommend a Staedtler fine tip. Any opaque colour will do. 5) Take the copy off the board and, making sure your hands do not touch the exposed surface of the board, make nice neat circles where all the pads are located (indicated by the dimples). 6) Using your photocopy as a reference, join the pads appropriately by drawing nice thick lines with your pen. Where possible, make a nice thick ground plane. 7) Check your lines and pads with a magnifying glass to make sure they pose a thick enough layer to resist etchant (I like to use two different colours, with the second colour used to go over the first. The change in colour lets me know what I have and haven't doubled up.) 8) Stick your etchant in an appropriately-sized tupperware (or equivalent) container. [You can't imagine how awful this stuff behaves if it spills on clothing, so make sure you are protected from splashes.] 9) Gently warm up the etchant. Some folks place the container in a larger one with hot water to do this. I use one of two ways: a) place a gooseneck reading lamp near the container and point the light at the surface of the etchant from about 4-6 inches away, b) add hot water to "condensed" etchant that had the lid left off and lost volume as the water evaporated. Warm etchant works faster. This is more than an issue of patience. You want the etchant to work faster vertically than horizontally. "Slow" etchant will eat away the sides of traces. You don't want that. 10) Gently place your ready-to-etch board COPPER SIDE DOWN on the surface of the etchant bath. The etchant is dense enough that the board should float if placed properly. The "taken" etchant will fall to the bottom of the container and be replaced by fresh stuff. If you use the lamp-warming method, the local heat will create brownian movement that will help replace old will fresh etchant. 11) Check up on your board after about 10 minutes, and every 5 minutes after that. Plastic tweezers are handy here, though some types of copper-clad board let you see through the back to the traces. 12) Shake the etched board dry over the container and rinse off any remaining etchant with LOTS of cold water. Ferric chloride won't hurt YOU, but it will hurt copper plumbing, so dilute anything that goes down the drain. Alternatively, keep a second container handy with a bed of baking soda. This will deactivate the etchant left on the board, and provide an environmentally safe by-product for conscientious disposal. 13) Clean the ink off the board with acetone or alchohol. 14) Get a 1/32" drill bit from a hobby store (model train and lapidary people carry them), and drill the dimples out (the centre-punching in advance does a nice job of "catching" the tip of the bit and making sure it doesn't wander). 15) Buff the drilled board with steel wool or emery cloth, and make sure your fingers don't touch the board after that until it is properly tinned. 16) Populate the board, using the photocopy of the parts layout as a guide. 17) Rock out.

3/2/2000 6:39 AM

Mark Hammer

Here's a somewhat simpler and cheaper way.

1) Photocopy both sides of the board (or scan them if you have the facilities.
2) tape the copy of the copper side of the board to a buffed piece of copper clad board (dry steel wool or #600-800 emery cloth will bring out the shine nicely)
3) Get yourself a springloaded centre-punch, set for medium tension, and pop little dimples in the board where every pad is.
4) Get yourself a *waterproof* overhead marker. Some recommend a "Sharpie", but these are generally too thick for many PC boards. I recommend a Staedtler fine tip. Any opaque colour will do.
5) Take the copy off the board and, making sure your hands do not touch the exposed surface of the board, make nice neat circles where all the pads are located (indicated by the dimples).
6) Using your photocopy as a reference, join the pads appropriately by drawing nice thick lines with your pen. Where possible, make a nice thick ground plane.
7) Check your lines and pads with a magnifying glass to make sure they pose a thick enough layer to resist etchant (I like to use two different colours, with the second colour used to go over the first. The change in colour lets me know what I have and haven't doubled up.)
8) Stick your etchant in an appropriately-sized tupperware (or equivalent) container. [You can't imagine how awful this stuff behaves if it spills on clothing, so make sure you are protected from splashes.]
9) Gently warm up the etchant. Some folks place the container in a larger one with hot water to do this. I use one of two ways: a) place a gooseneck reading lamp near the container and point the light at the surface of the etchant from about 4-6 inches away, b) add hot water to "condensed" etchant that had the lid left off and lost volume as the water evaporated. Warm etchant works faster. This is more than an issue of patience. You want the etchant to work faster vertically than horizontally. "Slow" etchant will eat away the sides of traces. You don't want that.
10) Gently place your ready-to-etch board COPPER SIDE DOWN on the surface of the etchant bath. The etchant is dense enough that the board should float if placed properly. The "taken" etchant will fall to the bottom of the container and be replaced by fresh stuff. If you use the lamp-warming method, the local heat will create brownian movement that will help replace old will fresh etchant.
11) Check up on your board after about 10 minutes, and every 5 minutes after that. Plastic tweezers are handy here, though some types of copper-clad board let you see through the back to the traces.
12) Shake the etched board dry over the container and rinse off any remaining etchant with LOTS of cold water. Ferric chloride won't hurt YOU, but it will hurt copper plumbing, so dilute anything that goes down the drain. Alternatively, keep a second container handy with a bed of baking soda. This will deactivate the etchant left on the board, and provide an environmentally safe by-product for conscientious disposal.
13) Clean the ink off the board with acetone or alchohol.
14) Get a 1/32" drill bit from a hobby store (model train and lapidary people carry them), and drill the dimples out (the centre-punching in advance does a nice job of "catching" the tip of the bit and making sure it doesn't wander).
15) Buff the drilled board with steel wool or emery cloth, and make sure your fingers don't touch the board after that until it is properly tinned.
16) Populate the board, using the photocopy of the parts layout as a guide.
17) Rock out.

3/2/2000 1:44 PM
JD Sleep	Some of use use the iron on transfers for more complex boards, check this link out too: http://www.techniks.com/press-n-peel.html JD

3/2/2000 2:46 PM
Mark Hammer	I was going to suggest that as well. They cost a bit for someone getting started (The cost of a pack of sheets PLUS the cost of etching supplies.), but as users will attest, they are substantially easier to work with, save time, and make for a nice neat board. Of course, when someone wants a board that is laid out exactly like another one (so it fits in the same space), it can often be easier just to physically copy the existing board, assuming the PC traces are of the variety that can be drawn by the human hand (with chemical traces of nicotine and caffeine in the blood). If this is a cramped board with traces running between IC pads, you may be better off to bite the bullet and use PnP. Of course, whether you use PnP or PnS (pen-'n-sweat), I stand by my advice for etching. To my list of ways to make the etchant warmer, I will also add letting the (closed cap) plastic bottle of etchant sit in a bucket of hot water for a while before opening it and pouring it in the etching container. The few drops of water on the outside of the etchant bottle will make no difference if they drip into the etchant bath when pouring.

3/2/2000 2:46 PM

Mark Hammer

I was going to suggest that as well. They cost a bit for someone getting started (The cost of a pack of sheets PLUS the cost of etching supplies.), but as users will attest, they are substantially easier to work with, save time, and make for a nice neat board.

Of course, when someone wants a board that is laid out exactly like another one (so it fits in the same space), it can often be easier just to physically copy the existing board, assuming the PC traces are of the variety that can be drawn by the human hand (with chemical traces of nicotine and caffeine in the blood). If this is a cramped board with traces running between IC pads, you may be better off to bite the bullet and use PnP.

Of course, whether you use PnP or PnS (pen-'n-sweat), I stand by my advice for etching. To my list of ways to make the etchant warmer, I will also add letting the (closed cap) plastic bottle of etchant sit in a bucket of hot water for a while before opening it and pouring it in the etching container. The few drops of water on the outside of the etchant bottle will make no difference if they drip into the etchant bath when pouring.

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