Hand etching

[Bdbodger]

I got a couple of PCB blank boards from someone and I don't want to bother learning to etch them with cemicals etc for a very uncomplicated small minor PCB so I was wondering if maybe I would just etch a curcit into one with a dremel by removing copper with it . What do you think of that idea ?

 

[jrm850]

A lot of people do it for small protoype boards. I've never tried it, but I'm sure if you have a steady hand you can make it happen. You can also remove copper from the board with a small pull scraper. You can grind your own using something as simple as an exacto knife blade or buy somethng like this- STOCK INLETTING TOOLS - Brownells If you grind your own make sure the heat generated from grinding never exceeeds light blue (625F) or it won't hold a cutting edge well. keeping it a straw color would be even better.

There are a couple of simple ways to chemically etch that are not as complicated as Photo resists, Toner transfer etc. You can simply draw your circuit with a sharpie or some of the paint pens and etch with a mixture of common hydrogen peroxide and hydrochloric acid. You can get a lifetime supply of the acid from home depot for under $10 bucks and the peroxide from anywhere for a dollar or two. In the end it is probably quicker and cleaner to chemical etch the hand drawn circuit and you will avoid the risk of lung silicosis from the fine fiberglass particles the dremel will create. For 15 bucks it is worth experimenting with in my opinion. If you decide to try this method there are a couple of real pros on this forum that I'm sure would be happy to help. I learned the Acid/peroxide etch from JavaAZ on this forum and will never go back to nasty Ferric Chloride.

Good luck with whichever method you choose.

 

[TomCatt]

From a Google search

How to Etch a Circuit Board - wikiHow using HCl and H2O2

 

[Bdbodger]

Thanks guys ( or gals as the case maybe ) I was more worried about finding the chemicals than actually doing it . I didn't want to buy more than I needed only to loose interest after the first try .

 

[TomCatt]

Good luck Bd, and let us know how it works.

 

[CraigHB]

Chemical etchants are really no biggie. It's only ferric acid that's really nasty (which I still use because it's fast, just don't spill it on anything).

Back in the day before inexpensive fabs and cheap laser printers, I used to make my PCB patterns using various widths of thin masking tape you could buy for that purpose. You could also get little dots with holes for your vias and component mounts. Made a number of boards that way and it does the job nicely, though tedious and time consuming. So...you could simply use any fine tape to lay out patterns for etching. Probably find all kinds of that stuff at a crafts store.

I've also made very simple boards to land single SMD components on a solderless breadboard by simply filing away copper to make pads. Dremel or hand file or even a carpet knife will do the job. It's quick and easy when you only need a couple three cuts. Anything more complex than that, I lay out my patterns with toner transfer then etch. When my boards are really involved, I pay to have them fabricated. It keeps getting cheaper and cheaper with all the various co-op and proto services popping up on the net.