Re: Bubble etch tank - first board

joseph wrote:

They are not perfect but are fine for .01" traces, there is little
room for error though. Use fresh, warm etchant and agitate like mad
to get it done quick.

Do you use a tray or a tank?



Yes on the double sided. I put an extra via at each corner as
registration marks. Iron one side and drill the registration marks.
You have to remove any hole "fuzz" from the drilling. Then hold the
PCB to a bright light and "try" to line up the PnP for the other
side. This was ok but not to good.

This is roughly what I've been thinking of trying, except I was considering
drilling a couple of thin pilot holes and pushing pins through the top layer
PnP and then the board. If a pair of diagonally-opposed corners are pinned,
about half of the area is still accessible to the iron, so it should be
possible to get enough adhesion before removing the pins to finish.


I've had better luck by drawing a
line around the perimeter of the board, make sure it prints out.
Then align this perimeter line with a corner* of the PCB. Iron one
side, flip, align the other side with the same corner, iron. *If
the edges of your raw PCB are not "sharp" it will not be easy to get
good alignment. If so, cut then first to get a good edge.

That could be a better option. As a matter of interest, how do you do vias?
Didn't there used to be some sort of little hollow, stubby 'pins' specific
to the purpose?


A cheap ($50, plastic housing) table-top diamond blade wet tile saw
from home depot (or was it Lowes?) works great.

Interesting, but I'm getting short on space. :-) I should be able to skim
the edges square in the milling machine, however.


--
Melodolic Spielberg


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Bubble etch tank - first board
    ... Iron one side and drill the registration marks. ... Then hold the PCB to a bright light and ... Iron one side, flip, align the other side with the same corner, ... Have you done any double-sided boards with it? ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: Bubble etch tank - first board
    ... aligned you should be able to remove the pins. ... usually enough to keep the PnP from sliding around on the PCB. ... a blank sheet of paper between the iron and the PnP to help the iron slide ... PCB to a bright light and "try" to line up the PnP for the other ...
    (sci.electronics.basics)
  • Re: Soldering surface mount components
    ... 1.You need a good HANDS FREE magnifier, one of them geeky head set ... Get a low wattage iron, 10-20 Watts, or so. ... Tack solder the chip on 1 corner. ... CHECK ALL PINS ...
    (sci.electronics.equipment)
  • Re: Soldering surface mount components
    ... 1.You need a good HANDS FREE magnifier, one of them geeky head set ... Get a low wattage iron, 10-20 Watts, or so. ... Tack solder the chip on 1 corner. ... CHECK ALL PINS ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Soldering surface mount components
    ... 1.You need a good HANDS FREE magnifier, one of them geeky head set ... Get a low wattage iron, 10-20 Watts, or so. ... Tack solder the chip on 1 corner. ... CHECK ALL PINS ...
    (sci.electronics.components)