Inkjet printer direct to PCB (printer hack/conversion)?

[Ioannis]

OK. Well done so far.

What about the printed PCB? Is the ink solid and dry on the copper?

Have you tried to etch it?

Ioannis

[mark_s]

Hank,

Great progress! You might inspire me to rip my Epson apart soon.
My big concern was the ink. Some of the guys were having trouble while others
seemed to be getting ok results. Need to research some more

I was thinking of taking a couple of ball bearing drawer slides and mounting a tray on top to hold the pcb. This would keep the alignment perfect and lower the friction.

Keep us updated

Regards
Mark

[HankMcSpank]

OK. Well done so far.

What about the printed PCB? Is the ink solid and dry on the copper?

Have you tried to etch it?

Ioannis

This (Epson) ink smudges (even after an hour) - but I knew this would be the case. Alas you have to bake the board to 'fix' the ink.

I've not baked nor tried to etch - this is just early experiments (clearly I need a better method to feed the copper in) - also it would appear a couple of the nozzles are blocked (I'm seeing the odd horizontal streak/line where no ink is on the pcopper)

Hank,

I was thinking of taking a couple of ball bearing drawer slides and mounting a tray on top to hold the pcb. This would keep the alignment perfect and lower the friction.

Mark

I'd say that's got to be a good idea - I'm thinking about a 'bed' behind the printer which the pcb rests on - but with adjustable cheeks, to align/guide the pcb where I want it (I can't be done with the faff as seen here - ...not knocking his achievment, as that video helped me a lot, but IMHO that's what the net is all about...being inspired by others aaccomplishments & chievments to hopefully take it to the next level).

So I'd say 'go for it'....it's surprisingly easy (if you're happy printing onto 0.8mm copper clad that is!)

[mark_s]

Hank,

I agree, advance it beyond those before, ditch the cardboard and bubble gum. But if you can't get the ink to dry in a consistant manner, there is no use advancing the mechanism.

You could print out some nice capacitive switches and keypads with the flexiable pcb material.
I might try this first with an unmodified printer. This way I can get a feel for the ink.


P.S. If we could determine if the same ink used in "Sharpie" pens would function in an epson print head. This ink dries fast and is etch resistant.

[HankMcSpank]

Hank,

I agree, advance it beyond those before, ditch the cardboard and bubble gum. But if you can't get the ink to dry in a consistant manner, there is no use advancing the mechanism.

You could print out some nice capacitive switches and keypads with the flexiable pcb material.
I might try this first with an unmodified printer. This way I can get a feel for the ink.


P.S. If we could determine if the same ink used in "Sharpie" pens would function in an epson print head. This ink dries fast and is etch resistant.

Now I'm no expert on printer ink, but it seems there are a two types...

1. dye ink (which is what most inkjets use) - water soluble - no use to us for etch resist.

2. pigment based ink (as used by the imkjet modders) - prints out wet, so needs to be baked to dry it. (& this is where inkjet pcbs turn into art form - the process of pre-prepping the board & drying the ink.



Solvent inks evaporate (likely to be what sharpie pens are)....ideal for pcbs, except it dissolves the glue in the epson print heads! this is why pigment based inks are the only option.

[Ioannis]

You can use AZAX or similar Glass cleaner for the blocked nozzles. It does a great job. Just remember after to do a head cleaning with the printer itself.

Ioannis

[daniel5]

Yeah I've used that, it does do a good job.

[kellyseye]

I've been looking at thermal printing mechanisms, particularly those that use waxed-transfer-to-paper i.e. older fax machines. The resolution isn't great but quite sufficient for most general pcb work. The only stumbling block is that the element used to provide the thermal transfer process won't accept a true flat paper (or pcb) pass through due to the 'bump' housing the heaters (presumably).
If the thermal print head manufacturers could make one that kept these 'lumps' out of the way then we're set to go!

Unless someone has come across a particular model that already has a 'flat' route through?