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Nice! I tried doing this a few years ago with a RepRap build. It didn't go well! Bad marker, pigment that dissolved, not enough ink layers, but the most interes
by prashnts 7y ago
Nice! I tried doing this a few years ago with a RepRap build. It didn't go well! Bad marker, pigment that dissolved, not enough ink layers, but the most interesting one was with Staedtler markers which sorta dissolve previously laid down ink when I made multiple passes. Ended up doing toner transfer after giving up.
I wonder how would a thin plastic film cut with one of those vinyl sticker cutters would fare for masking.
- StavrosK 7y agoOh huh, I'm using an Edding 140S, in case it matters. It was what they gave me when I asked for a permanent marker, and it worked beautifully. Didn't dissolve at all in the etchant, yet wipes right off with some alcohol.
- prashnts 7y agoNo doubt, I had no idea which marker to use. Thanks for the suggestion, I want to give it another go since toner transfer is often a hit/miss.
- StavrosK 7y agoNo problem, give it a shot, it worked really really well in my tests, and very easily.
- armitron 7y agoI wouldn't describe the results you show in the photos as "worked really really well". The traces are uneven and full of holes and discontinuities. To me that's completely unacceptable. I'd throw them in the garbage but I guess I'm too OCD and obsessed about quality to work with hand-etched PCBs.
- StavrosK 7y agoTo me, the circuit did its job, so it worked really well.
- prashnts 7y agoAs long as it works or can be fixed with some bodge, I'm okay with that for prototypes. I do tend to tin the traces wherever they seem 'porous'. For broken traces, I use wrapping wire core soldered on tracks. But yeah, that isn't pretty!