copper circuit boards

[Sensei Tim]

So i'm starting to make the transition to etching my own PCBs. i think i've finally cracked the code for toner transfer with my set up and i etched a few boards on the weekend and they all came out very nice.

couple of questions for you guys who do this a lot:

when i was cutting the boards down to size i used an xacto knife to get a couple of deep scores on both sides of the board and then snapped it off. this gave me a rough edge, but a bit of filing took care of that. HOWEVER, there are some pale spots around the etch which looks like something delaminated inside the fiberglass.  The same thing happened when i drilled the holes in the board - around the circumference of the hole on the back side there is a pale ring where it looks like some delamination occurred.

Is this just cheap-o material? too thick?

Any suggestions on where to order it from? i read that the Tayda stuff is bordered lined trash and that the copper can lift off of the fiberglass.

Cheers

Tim

[Beaker]

Sounds to me like you are not scribing deep enough, and the board is flexing when you try to snap it, causing it to de-laminate.

Ideally, you need a PCB shear - a heavy duty guillotine, but they are very, very expensive.

Do not use an Xacto knife, Stanley knife or anything similar as the blades are nowhere near strong enough score with. You risk snapping the blade and ending up in the emergency room!

Instead, use a hardened steel scriber or a carbide tipped ceramic tile cutter. Scribe it along a steel straight edge rule several times to cut a deep notch. Scribers, tile cutters and steel rules are very cheap to buy.

Now hold the PCB down flat, with the scribed groove facing up and running along the edge of something straight and hard, and with a sharp corner (no radius or chamfer) - a block of steel is the perfect thing. Press it down nice and hard with your fingers, and snap the excess off downwards.

The idea is to prevent the bit you want (the PCB) from flexing, as any flexing will cause it to de-laminate - both the layers of the fibreboard and the copper layer itself.

I have no suggestions for a good brand or source of PCB board, but if you follow my method, you should have no problems with even the cheapest nastiest board.

[Muadzin]

Smallbear sells etching kits, I got one in the past.

Never used it though. I hate etched boards with a fiery passion. They're a bitch to solder as the damn solder seems to refuse to adhere properly. Haven't managed to get an etched board to work in years.