Anyone willing to etch some PCBs?

[duncan303]

Hi,

I agree that single sided, single layer,no vias,no holes, no soldermask, no legend makes it very easy, so easy in fact.................

maybe........ depending on the component density and signal widths, isolation width to the ground plane, you may find that all you need is some presensitised board, a cat litter tray, some etchant and a printer capable of laying on a dense image onto a translucent paper/acetate. Oh and the sun shine for UV source, if you are lucky.

you say the boards are assorted and you mention one 1/2" x 9" well its the panelisation that is going to take time. Will your layout software allow you to arrange multiple designs onto a single printout?

I know this is not the answer to your question but i'm sure you would be able to succeed if you gave it a go, you could have a design from screen to bench ready for populating within the hour, how cool is that.


HTHH


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[The Master]

I can arrange multiple boards on a single sheet. I do have some equipment to make PCBs myself but the acid is no good at all now and after these boards its not likely that ill be making anymore for a while.

I dont want to buy more acid and unpack all of the equipment (some of it even needs finding first) just to do a few PCBs then pack it all away again and let the acid go to waste. The last PCBs i made didnt come out very well either and i wasted a lot of time and didnt get the results i wanted.

[duncan303]

I was thinking of:
cat litter tray £1
Etchant £2.50
Developer £3
sheets of tracing paper 10p

plus the board

so you do not have to waste time looking for any old kit, it cheap enough to buy and dispose of what you do not use. None of the above have a significant limitation on shelf life.

Does your boardhouse not allow multiple designs? TBH I think maybe a boardhouse is probably the best route for you.

cost wise....... maybe just bite the bullet.

STTH

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[The Master]

Ive got the stuff you mentioned but you didnt put acid on the list. Thats expensive to keep replacing everytime i make PCBs (which isnt that often at the moment).

My first idea was to get a company to make them but they are all way to expensive for low volume.

[duncan303]

Etchant is ferric chloride which will dissolve the copper from the board
250g from rapid ~£2.50

What is the acid to which you refer?

...

[Darrel Taylor]

I realize you want "cheap", but what are you willing to pay?

I could get 50 boards/15 types/9.3"x1/2" for $492, 2-day turnaround. That's $9.84 each.
No mask, no silkscreen, no routing.

That would be good enough for me ... what's your target?
Is it even worthwhile for someone to do it for you.

[The Master]

duncan303: Which acid is that your looking at? I paid way more before. Maybe i didnt even have the right type and thats why they didnt work out so good.

DT: Is that really considered cheap? Thats more than some companies have been quoting me. It seems like the PCBs cost more than the components that go on them :S

Looks like i really have no choice but to make my own

[Darrel Taylor]

DT: Is that really considered cheap? Thats more than some companies have been quoting me. It seems like the PCBs cost more than the components that go on them :S

I took the highest quote from SunStone, which still seemed "cheap" to me for QTY=50.

If you wanted 10,000 of them, they're 10 cents a piece.
The costs of development... or the pain of making them yourself ...

[mackrackit]

Oh and the sun shine for UV source, if you are lucky.

an aquarium bulb also works well during an eclipse.

I will ad to duncan's list a cheap picture frame for the thin piece of glass to hold the transparency on the board while it is in the sun.

Do a couple of test to get the hang of it and see how easy it is.

Nothing like rolling you own.