Printers, discuss them

[Jero]

I need to get a printer asap. Laser because I'm going to be etching. What are some things to look for? Certain dpi, etc?

I will be doing decals too. Would it be better to buy a more expensive b&w laser for etching, and color inkjet for the decals. Or a semi expensive color laser printer for all of it?

[McSpunckle]

You can get a good inkjet for $100. I use an Epson Artison 125, which is only $100 on Amazon now (I think it usually costs more), and its colours and resolution are great. Mine did kinda break, though... which was awful. Stopped recognizing the ink cartridges, and Epson custom service is kinda meh, but getting it replaced wasn't a huge deal despite that.

Pretty sure you can get a laser printer good enough for etching for 100 bucks too (but that's really a subject for someone other than me). And I -think- you can do the photo resist method with an inkjet.

[culturejam]

I've done photo-resist positive with an inkjet. Doesn't matter what it is for those. Just as long as it can print to a transparency sheet.

For etching, you definitely need laser/toner. I have a small Brother laser, and while I LOVE it for normal printing, the toner sucks balls for etching. So don't get a Brother.

Color laser is still expensive, I think. Well, the printers aren't so bad anymore, but the toner is a wallet stunner.

[Rygot]

I honestly can't give much input on this but I am interested to hear more, I need an inkjet for waterslide.

I'm getting better at doing the etching freehand with a dremel so I'm gonna keep trying that.

[LaoWiz]

I bought a 50-60 dollar Brother laser printer and it works like a charm for me. I have only just started getting into etching PCBs and use it mostly for enclosure etching. Now, I don't do stuff in bulk so we'll see how it holds up down the road. I only print on PNP for enclosures but will probably use more glossy mag paper for PCBs since that seemed to worked easily in the past.

[Jero]

I'll look into the photo resist method. It'd be nice to only have one printer. Guess now might be a good time to get photoshop as well.

The Brother toner, I keep hearing bad things about for etching. Sucks cause those printers are everywhere. I will be doing some enclosure etch's but mostly pcbs. I go through my project files and see pedals I want to make/mod every day. Time to say, "Hey, I think I want to build blank today, lemme etch the board right quick and get to it."

Rygot, why do you need inkjet for waterslide? Does laser get too hot or something? I'll have to try dremel etching again; it's hard as hell though.

Thanks 'Spunck, that epson will be my inkjet printer of choice then!
This is the color laser printer I've been thinking about getting: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Color-Las ... B001A1PQTS

[Rygot]

Nah, I actually think its just my old cheap dell laser printer that doesn't cooperate with decal paper.
Either way I've got like 50 sheets of inkjet waterslide paper so I might as well get one.

And yeah, the dremel etching is a pain but I've gone out and bought/ordered a good amount of different etching bits and it helps.

[frequencycentral]

I've got a laser printer for doing toner transfers for etching: SAMSUNG ML-1660

...which I just recently picked up - about £50 ($75?). It's cool, but anything over 150gsm paper kinda jams a little. I prefer 190gsm, so I have to put the inamge right in the middle of the page to account for the jamming. Kinda wasteful of paper, but the toner transfers are excellent.

...and an inkjet for doing OHP transparencies: Hewlett Packard HP-B109A