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jwar wrote:Lao, I probably asked you before, but what do you use for your etches? Are you using Ferric Chloride? I'm looking to start using a different type. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm tired of paying 12 bucks a bottle at Radio Shack.
I bought some powdered ferric before but either mixed it wrong or it was just weak. Radio Shack is a few blocks away so it's a nice walk and there's always a pretty lady or two on the way there or back, so that's the stuff I get. Been meaning to try another process, though. Lots of conversation at diysb. One thing I need to do is find a better printer. I print to press n peel and sometimes its not a dense enough print. I double printed on of the multiplexes which was perfect but trying to do that again resulted in misalignment and a waste of paper. I think Dan may have a good process, some of that detail he gets is insane!
I use pool acid (Muriatic / HCl) from Home Depot (2 gallons/$10), and hydrogen peroxide from a beauty supply store (Clairoxide, $3/quart?).
Regular peroxide from the grocery store works fine, but the reaction is slow on aluminum. The peroxide I use is something like 20%. I have to dilute it with water, or the reaction is too violent with aluminum.
It also works great for circuit boards. The Cu + HCl becomes cupric chloride in an aqueous hydrochloric acid solution after you etch enough. Then you just need to add some oxygen, either with an aquarium pump, or concentrated H2O2 (add the acid to the H2O2, of course).
The only thing I worry about with muriatic is the inhalation possibilities. It's soooooooo much more toxic to you than Ferric Chloride. I do however have a huge bottle of it sitting around. I've just been too scared to use it.
Lao, check out the Dollar Store dude. I use cheaper photo paper I got from there and it works perfect almost every time! I read about it on diystompboxes.com
Seriously cheap and effective.
"I do not have the ability to think rationally 90% of the time and I also change my mind at the drop of a hat".
jwar wrote:The only thing I worry about with muriatic is the inhalation possibilities. It's soooooooo much more toxic to you than Ferric Chloride. I do however have a huge bottle of it sitting around. I've just been too scared to use it.
Lao, check out the Dollar Store dude. I use cheaper photo paper I got from there and it works perfect almost every time! I read about it on diystompboxes.com
Seriously cheap and effective.
Yea I gotta try some new paper options. Tryed photopaper twice with one good result and one fail. I like to iron the fuck out of it to get a good transfer and didn't like having to soak and then peel the paper off. Press n peel is expensive but easy.
Dude. Not kidding you when I say this. http://www.dollartree.com/school-office ... hod=search That shit right there is better than Press N Peel. I've used it on every etch since I discovered it and get almost perfect transfer every single time. 6 minutes with the iron and it's good to go. Shit I did 18 transfers yesterday and all of them were perfect. No need to use water either. Let that shit naturally cool off and then peel it.
I'd try it out if you can. It's only a buck.
"I do not have the ability to think rationally 90% of the time and I also change my mind at the drop of a hat".
jwar wrote:The only thing I worry about with muriatic is the inhalation possibilities. It's soooooooo much more toxic to you than Ferric Chloride. I do however have a huge bottle of it sitting around. I've just been too scared to use it.
I do it outside on a windy day, and haven't had any problems. I use the smallest amount necessary for the job. I'm talking about 1:1 HCl:H2O2 (Clairoxide), about 2 tablespoons of each for several boards. I do my boards in a ziplock bag now, so I can toss the bag into a bowl of warm water. I can etch a near-perfect board in about a minute... heh.
Lao, check out the Dollar Store dude. I use cheaper photo paper I got from there and it works perfect almost every time! I read about it on diystompboxes.com
Seriously cheap and effective.
jwar wrote:Dude. Not kidding you when I say this. http://www.dollartree.com/school-office ... hod=search That shit right there is better than Press N Peel. I've used it on every etch since I discovered it and get almost perfect transfer every single time. 6 minutes with the iron and it's good to go. Shit I did 18 transfers yesterday and all of them were perfect. No need to use water either. Let that shit naturally cool off and then peel it.
Exactly what I use. I might have been the one to recommend it over at DIYSB... heh! I bought a bunch of it, and cut it into 1/4 sheets. It is really great.
I would say that reliable traces/spaces down to 0.008" is pretty good!
jwar wrote:The only thing I worry about with muriatic is the inhalation possibilities. It's soooooooo much more toxic to you than Ferric Chloride. I do however have a huge bottle of it sitting around. I've just been too scared to use it.
I do it outside on a windy day, and haven't had any problems. I use the smallest amount necessary for the job. I'm talking about 1:1 HCl:H2O2 (Clairoxide), about 2 tablespoons of each for several boards. I do my boards in a ziplock bag now, so I can toss the bag into a bowl of warm water. I can etch a near-perfect board in about a minute... heh.
Lao, check out the Dollar Store dude. I use cheaper photo paper I got from there and it works perfect almost every time! I read about it on diystompboxes.com
Seriously cheap and effective.
jwar wrote:Dude. Not kidding you when I say this. http://www.dollartree.com/school-office ... hod=search That shit right there is better than Press N Peel. I've used it on every etch since I discovered it and get almost perfect transfer every single time. 6 minutes with the iron and it's good to go. Shit I did 18 transfers yesterday and all of them were perfect. No need to use water either. Let that shit naturally cool off and then peel it.
Exactly what I use. I might have been the one to recommend it over at DIYSB... heh! I bought a bunch of it, and cut it into 1/4 sheets. It is really great.
I would say that reliable traces/spaces down to 0.008" is pretty good!
Mike
1 minute per board is pretty badass. Ordering the paper, good fucking price.
I finally found a pseudo ring mod circuit that works for the sound I've been wanting for years. I can't believe I found it. It's like two chips, three caps, and a couple of pots. Clean not so much but pumping it with the Tone Machine is heaven. Now to find the right splitter mixer circuit to blend it with some fuzz delay and I will be happy...
There are a couple more op amp stages than strictly necessary, because I wanted to try out a summing mixer. It's an AD633 ring mod, with regulated +- 12V power rails and a voltage controlled sine approximation oscillator. There's some hiss I'm about to get rid of right now I think, and some osc noise on the power rails (I think) I can't do much about at this point. Actually because of the way all the pads on this perf are next to each other, I think the oscillator would bleed all over the place no matter what I do. Hopefully I can correct this better with a pcb layout. Other than that it sounds pretty nice. I'm running right up against the upper limits of how much current the +- 12V rails can provide, but I could easily run less circuitry from it; I powered everything with them in this for the hell of it. They're created from the 9V power with an Lt1054 charge pump.
Soldered together a bootleggerMIC for my boss today. It's basically an iPhone mic for recording audio at live concerts with high volume; there is theory explained in the instructions linked below.
My boss got two kits and gave me one; finally getting around to putting them together now that I have a soldering station again.
I think with some more careful trimming and warmer weather (had shaky hands out in the garage) I can get the whole thing to be cleaner and more cylindrical.
