Published On Apr 30, 2017
Here's how to make circuit boards at home. This first video covers how to expose, etch and tin plate a PCB. The general process is:
1. Print your masks onto transparencies. If you want to do 10mil traces (6-8mil is possible too, but with more failures) you need at least 1200dpi. 600dpi is not good enough.
2. Expose your board.
3. Develop with a mix of water and sodium hydroxide (NaOH).
4. Etch with a mix of water, hydrochloric acid (HCl) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
5. Tin plate with Liquid Tin.
The second video in this series shows how to apply a solder mask, how to solder the SMD components to the board, and finally a demo of the project. This design is a PC microphone amplifier.
• PCB Prototyping Part 2: Solder Mask, ...
Supplies:
Exposure Kit http://amzn.to/2lHQAfe
Copper Clad Board, Presensitized http://amzn.to/2ma0M0Z or http://amzn.to/2lNrlbL
Transparencies for a laser printer http://amzn.to/2oWVOSR
Sodium Hydroxide http://amzn.to/2oKAwvL
Hydrogen peroxide (35%) http://amzn.to/2oKsZx6
Liquid Tin http://amzn.to/2lHR8BP
Laminator http://amzn.to/2kOGycW
Sodium Carbonate http://amzn.to/2lI18Lp
Gram Scale (you need at least 0.1g resolution) http://amzn.to/2qqUHuY
Tin Snips http://amzn.to/2oKNoSy
Hydrochloric Acid: go to a home improvement or pool store, it's very expensive online.
Solder Mask: search eBay for "dry film solder mask"
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