Printed circuit board etching
posted Dec 26th 2005 11:59am by Eliot Phillipsfiled under: misc hacks
This isn’t meant to be the definitive PCB etching post. I don’t have any experience etching boards and was hoping readers could contribute their best/favorite methods for etching boards in the comments.
We’re linking to Tom Gootee’s page on toner transfer etching. The first step is to print the design on glossy paper using a laser printer. An iron is then used to transfer the toner to a prepped copper board. The board is then soaked in etchant to remove the exposed copper. The printer toner is mostly plastic and resists the etchant. Once the board is etched, Acetone is used to remove the toner. Tom has been keeping his site up to date and as his research progresses.





I’ve been trying to find some information on building a PCB spray etcher. Although transfers and board preparation are important i’ve found that that only way to get really sharp clean lines is to use a spray etcher. Unfortunately commercial units start at $1k and go much higher than that. Anyone know of any good resources?
Posted at 12:32 pm on Dec 26th, 2005 by Don