Homemade PCB

9 Jul 2013

I see that everyone is finishing projects before deadline I wanted to order a custom PCB for my project, but it takes about 7-14 days, so I decided to go back in time, when I lived in my dorm. Me and my friends were creating our own PCBs back then. The process is really simple.

Create schematic and PCB design.

Print the layers (laser printer) and iron them onto the raw copper board.

Soften the paper with water mixed with citric acid and washing-up liquid.

Peel off the paper when it softens.

Etch the PCB. Afterwards remove black toner with isopropyl alcohol or sand paper.

Drill holes and solder parts (I will upload some pictures of the whole thing when I solder and test all the connections).

Top Comments

COMPACT over 12 years ago in reply to gelmi

The attached link describes one of the methods I use to make PCBs.
It is a refined version of what you have done and allows for the creation of much tighter pitch boards.
http://ultrakeet.com.au/write-ups/makepcbs

The website contains some great tips.
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gelmi over 12 years ago

I usually use B327 (sodium persulfate) - be sure to keep the temperature between 35-50 oC. Back in the dorm, we had special, modified fish tank with water pump and heater. With new B327, the etching took 10 minutes in that tank. I always use sand paper to treat the copper (circular moves) and then alcohol before I iron the layers. If you are patient and you have correct ironing temperature, good laser printer and some practice, 10 mils is easy to achieve. For me the really weak part is when you have 100 vias to do by hand That is why I only etch small boards for myself. Bigger ones I order. Although, I have seen some people who make metal vias at home.
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vsluiter over 12 years ago

Nice! I've done 'homemade PCB's' myself a few times, but wasn't able to get good results consistently (especially with everything smaller than1.27 pitch), and etching took far too long... What etchant are you using? One of the critical steps I found was to clean the board with acetone to make the toner stick better.
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fustini over 12 years ago

Very cool - I've always wanted to make my own PCBs and didn't realize how simple it could be, thanks!
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