So, just an idea: Nowadays there are printers that can print directly onto cd/dvd's. A flat surface.. If you somehow get a piece of copper clad board onto it and print, then dunk it in etching solution, would that work? Or won't printer ink work? ..just thinking of an easy, low cost solutions to making good pcb's...
Wow, did not know that. I had always assumed it had to be something special, didn't know that. Sorry. Learn something new everyday, just had to share.
I believe you are misunderstanding his post - he wants to print DIRECTLY onto the copper clad board. There will be no transferring of toner onto the board as it is printed onto it. I would expect that if something can print onto a CD, it can also print onto a copper clad board, and thus would work quite nicely.
Inkjet ink is usually water soluble, and thus would get washed away. And you can make traditional etching printouts on inkjets too, you just need inkjet transparency sheets, just set the print settings to use a lot of ink to get it entirely black. As for using a laser printer to print directly onto a copper board, that would destroy the printer.
there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding going on in this thread, but i like the idea and would love to hear if it works. can you get laser versions of the cd printers, or are they usually too cheap?
couldn't work afaik, laser printers rely on the medium to be non conductive to attach the toner with static. copper clad = no static = no toner transfered. it would be possible to add a second stage into the printer (printing to a medium then hot rolling it to the board) But that would be a rather custom feature that not many people would buy so it is unlikely any company woud be willing it make that so Inkjet would work if you could get a perminent ink cartridge.
There are a couple of thermal print methods for CD/DVD labelling that might be OK, but they are expensive compared to the injet machines. Cheapest I can see. "It uses thermal transfer technology, which means that the ink is waterproof and permanent." However, it's built to take a disc, so you can't use on a sheet of PCB.
Here in Australia we can buy photo etch coated pcb's, Usually a plastic sheet is printed with the pcb patterns and is used as a mask while exposing the photo etch with UV light, then developer is used to remove the unexposed. then the copper layer is etched. One would think that a cd printer could be used to apply the photo mask.
I think its a nice idea, but could you use a printer that is designed to print on a preset size on something that could be longer, and/or thinner? Also the printer is designed to skip over the section of the cd/dvd that has the whole. If you can get your hands on one and if you can change the settings of it, more power too ya! Just show us of course . -CollinstheClown
That method needs a UV lamp. There are iron-on methods to transfer laser toner from photo paper to a bare copper surface, which are cheaper to set up but harder to get right. veland's idea would be good, with the right printer and ink.
Idea: what about a coating that is painted on and then blasted away in parts with a laser? After etching, a solvent is used to remove the rest of the coating.
