Re: Was: CuCl etching

From: Mark Jones (abuse_at_127.0.0.1)
Date: 02/13/05 

Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 13:48:46 -0500

richard mullens wrote:
> Tim Wescott wrote:
>
>> xray wrote:
>>
>>> In early Jan there was a discussion here about using CuCl to etch PC
>>> boards. Sorry, I lost the original thread.
>>>
>>> Someone mentioned a web page about this. I think that was my page. My
>>> site was in limbo at the time. I have finally gotten around to putting
>>> up some pages in a new location.
>>>
>>> Here's the page on CuCl etching...
>>> http://www.xertech.net/Tech/CuCl_ech.html
>>>
>>> This information is all copied from a book of the 1980's. I did contact
>>> the author before posting. He goes into great detail on the process of
>>> keeping the chemistry right.
>>>
>>> All the pictures on this page are from the book. When I did my version,
>>> I found some porous plastic tubing in an aquarium store. I ran a few
>>> rows horizontally across the bottom of the tank as a bubbler. I adapted
>>> an aquarium heater in a large test tube. The heater was adjusted to a
>>> level that could cook fish, but all the parts were there, so the
>>> conversion was pretty easy.
>>>
>>>
>> That is a cool page. I suspect that I will always be too lazy to
>> actually etch boards (that's what quick-turn houses are for), but it's
>> good information if I ever decide to do so.
>>
>
> Interesting, What is more, when the cuprous chloride has been formed,
> you can bubble acetylene through the soultion to make cuprous acetylide
> - explosive, but not as good as the silver variety.

 A much safer alternative is ammonium tri-iodide. Take a pitri dish, add a few
(read: one or two) iodine crystals, add just enough ammonia to cover. Ammonia in
this case is household ammonia - the pure stuff would make the result far too
unstable - breathing on it would set it off. Swirl gently, and after a few
minutes the iodine crystals will turn purple. When wet, it is harmless. But once
they dry, they become explosive. Apparently the molecules line up in very long
chains when drying and are easily broken by physical force, creating a miniature
atomic chain-reaction. The product of explosion is simple dis-assembly of the
structure - it leaves an ammonia-and-iodine-stain on whatever unlucky thing
touched it.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Was: CuCl etching
    ... >> Interesting, What is more, when the cuprous chloride has been formed, ... >> you can bubble acetylene through the soultion to make cuprous acetylide ... iodine crystals, add just enough ammonia to cover. ...
    (sci.electronics.design)
  • Re: Was: CuCl etching
    ... iodine crystals, add just enough ammonia to cover. ... >this case is household ammonia - the pure stuff would make the result far too ...
    (sci.electronics.design)