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- Newsgroups: sci.electronics
- Path: sparky!uunet!melpar!doherty
- From: doherty@melpar (Kevin Doherty)
- Subject: Re: TEC-200 film
- Organization: E-Systems, Melpar Division
- Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 13:54:26 GMT
- Message-ID: <BxI6Ms.6pn@melpar>
- References: <1992Nov10.014707.29328@Princeton.EDU>
- Lines: 34
-
- ajackson@ernie.Princeton.EDU (Andrew William Jackson) writes:
-
- >TEC-200 film
-
- >Has anyone tried this stuff? Supposedly you photocopy your
- >PCB pattern onto it with a normal photocopier and then iron
- >it onto a blank copper board, peel off the plastic substrate
- >leaving the pattern behind - then you etch it. Sounds like
- >a great way to make boards without the hassle of using photo
- >resist.
-
- It's my favorite way to make PC boards, although there are a
- few tricks to it.
-
- First, an iron doesen't do the job very well. Uneven pressure
- with the iron causes some of the lines to smear. I sandwich the
- film, the copperclad, and a piece of heat resistant foam between
- two metal plates, then heat the sandwich. This keeps the pressure
- uniform over a wide area.
-
- Another problem is with the laser printers used to put the art on
- the film. Thin traces are fine, but large black areas tend to be
- a little patchy and grainy. If it isn't critical, I just ignore the
- problem - some of the copper on the ground plane gets etched. If I
- care, I just lay down another layer of toner on top of the first.
-
- I've made 2 sided boards up to 6" by 9" that have come out
- beautifully. If a circuit has more than five or six components,
- these days I make a PC board as a matter of course.
-
- I understand, though, that this stuff has several competitors
- now - particularly paper based systems. Does anyone have data on
- these?
-
-