Safest etchant for home-made PCBs? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: iry100fan
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 03:46:44 pm
content: Hello Everybody,Just wondering what the general consensus is pertaining to the safest etchant to use in a home. In the past I had used Ferric Chloride due to the fact that Radio Shack used to sell it. I'm wanting to etch some PCBs again and wondering if I should stick with Ferric Chloride or move to something else. What concerns me the most is my safety (skin contact and gassing). I see lots of posts about homemade mixtures but I have no clue how safe any of them are and thus am hesitant to try them.Thanks for the info.-Brian

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 04:01:12 pm
content: I apologize ahead of time for the Captain Obvious rant. There is no such thing as a safe etchant. All will cause problems with enough exposure, all have issues with disposal. On occasion you will find one that is more compatible with your local safety regulations, but that is more a legal issue than a chemistry issue. In another jurisdiction the answer is often different.The safest way to make PCBs is to buy them. Board services in China build higher quality product at lower prices than you can achieve at home, so few make their own today. But for some people it makes sense. I do on some occasions.In the small quantities used by a home circuit board maker, and recognizing the extremely small number people who actually do this, the environmental hazard is quite low regardless of the chemistry used. If you take suitable precautions (apron, gloves, ventilation and so on) and make sure you understand the chemistry of mixing (which order to mix and how to mix, etc. ) any of them are safe enough to use. So make your decision on what is most easily obtainable and which you are familiar and comfortable with.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 05:00:11 pm
content: Indeed, none is safe. Sodium persulfate is OK, ferric chloride is OK. Both require elevated temperature and bubbling to work properly, IMHO. Both require proper fume extraction (very good open window ventilation at very least if you only do it occasionally). They are not dangerously toxic and notthatstrong of etchants, so if you get some on your hands, just wash it off and you are good to go. I did a lot of this work without gloves, really, but of course can't recommend that to others.Safety glasses is the most essential part. The etchants mentioned are not strong enough to do serious permanent damage to your eyes if you flush immediately with a lot of running water and seek for medical help just in case but still... do everything you can to avoid that!

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 05:20:11 pm
content: Ferric Chloride is fairly safe to humans but it is nasty stuff that stains everything it touches. It should go without saying that any chemical that etches metal will damage other metal objects it or its vapor comes into contact with. I use HCl + peroxide which is not terrible, HCl is what is in your stomach to digest food, albeit weaker than what you'd use to etch PCBs. Wear gloves and safety glasses and ideally do it outside, I usually etch boards on my deck, after laying out a large plastic trash bag to catch any spills and drips.

author: Fred27
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 05:26:10 pm
content: I'm going to jump in ahead of the inevitable "just use hydrochloric acid instead of that nasty ferric chloride". HCl is far nastier. The fumes will rust expensive tools you have in the same room for instance. I've found ferric chloride to be messy but not actually that nasty to work with.I'll also echo that unless you're enjoying the challenge of home etching or you desperately need it same day, ordering from China is way better in terms of quality, safety, price and time spent. (Just not time elapsed.)

author: Fred27
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 05:30:57 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on June 14, 2022, 05:20:11 pmVomit-etching it is then. Readily available and it's organic too.

author: DavidAlfa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 05:59:25 pm
content: Ferric chloride is way safe. Just dirty as hell, will stain anything, use gloves! It's way slower than HCl, so it's less likely to eat away too much if you miss a minute.I used it back in the day with 0.5mm-pitch stuff, (tqfp, tssop, qfn, various connectors...) withou any special equipment, just a small tray, wiggling by hand to ensure uniform result.It's far more important the UV exposure time and the sharpness of the mask. Use at least 1200dpi printer.For your first tests, make the same patterns in a small pcb, 8-10 times. Exposure 1 minute at a time, then mask one pattern, expose for another minute, repeat until all patterns are done.The reveal and proceed with the acid.If your UV source is very powerful, you might have too much difference bertween one minute and another, so repeat, starting at the minutes where it it was slightly underexposed, then masking in 20 seconds steps.Once you get it perfect, the acid step will be easier. Just remember to take care of the temperature, the results will vary considerably between ex. 25 and 50º.Also it won't makes bubbles as HCl, sometimes they stick to the pcb and will ruin the work.If you want it fast: HCl + Hydrogen peroxide 30%. But you must move the solution a lot and ensure you don't overcook it!

author: Benta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 07:37:33 pm
content: Three options:1: Ferric Chloride (FeCl3) 40% solution. Safe, but very messy (impossible-to-remove brown stains if you spill it) and the fumes will cause corrosion in other metal parts in the vicinity. Works well at 20 C. Remains need to be disposed of as chemical waste.Etch time: 20...30 min.2: Sodium Persulfate (Na2S2O8), 250 g to 1 litre water. Safe, but needs heating and stirring to work properly (~50 C), which is why you'll see vertical etching baths with heating elements and air pump/bubble tubes. Disposal: chemical waste.Etch time 10...20 min.3:WARNING!Only for outdoor use and with a gas mask!!! Chloride gas will be released!!!H2O + H2O2(35%) + HCl(30%). Mix: 1/4, 1/4, 1/2.Always add HCl last.Disposal: dilute with water, then as chemical waste.Etch time:10...20 seconds.Process is exotherm, so each PCB you etch will go faster and faster. EXTREMELY HARD TO CONTROL, NOT RECOMMENDED FOR BEGINNERS!!!

author: SmallCog
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 09:53:30 pm
content: Depending what you're making the other option is engraving/routing.There are numerous videos on YouTube of people using small cheap machines (eg the 3018's)This does away with the chemicals and fumes but you should be aware of the dust hazard and give some consideration to control methods.This will potentially let you drill though holes and route in isolation slots too.

author: iry100fan
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 10:20:33 pm
content: I appreciate everyone's input. My only experience has been with Ferric Chloride. I understand that any solution that can eat away metal has a bit of a danger level to it, but it sounds like Ferric Chloride is one of the safer ways to go. Staining doesn't worry me as I don't have anything near where I do the work that isn't easily replaceable. And, once a year we have hazardous chemical recycling nearby for me to dispose of the old stuff.I have a cheap CNC3020 mill and have attempted making boards on it. That has been a bit of hit and miss for me as some boards turn out okay but most yield poor results. Maybe I'm expecting too much from such a procedure.I am a bit leery of home-brew solutions such as muriatic acid and hydrogen peroxide. Apart both are relatively safe but I have no idea what truly happens when they are combined as I am no chemist. (No SDS sheet for home-brew recipes.) However "vomit-etching" seems safe enough.(That was a good one.)I do this as a hobby and enjoy the ability to look at a board and say "I made that". I have only had two boards professionally made and they were not inexpensive to do. Making boards at home seems to be significantly less expensive but I am lucky that I already have equipment like a CNC mill and a laser printer. If I factor that into the equation it would be a different story.Again, thank you to everyone who chimed in here. Probably goining to stick with Ferric Chloride for now.-Brian

author: emece67
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 10:25:23 pm
content: .

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 14, 2022, 11:32:13 pm
content: Quote from: Fred27 on June 14, 2022, 05:30:57 pmif you want it to go faster , hurl harder ... principle of spray etching. i recommend scavenging a meal from the bins behind the local greaseshack...

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2022, 01:07:36 am
content: The safest and most convenient etchant in 2022, is the tank of etchant in the Chinese factory, several thousands of kilometers from you, but able to be used with the exchange of a few bucks.If you really need to DIY there is the oldVinegar, Hydrogen Peroxide and Saltetchant, that's going to be pretty safe. Bit of a PITA though. This is a single use mix it as you need it solution.The persulfate etchants (ammonium, or sodium) are maybe next on the list for safety and cleanliness. I don't think it can be reused that much, but I havn't used persulfate etchant myself.Ferric Chloride next probably, it can make a horrible mess if it escapes your etching container, but it's not especially dangerous in and of itself I think. Can be reused quite a bit. You can't really see what's going on during etching though which is a downside.HCl+H2O2 (or CuCl2 derived from it) works well, you can see through it to monitor the etching, and doesn't make a mess (but don't use 35% H2O2, or if you do then understand you will need atinyamount of it in comparison to HCl, literally dribble it in until you see it starting to work, aim for a couple minutes etch time not a few seconds, it's easier to control). Realistically while the safety precautions are minimal, it's not what I'd call a "safest" etchant. Been discussed here many times the pros and cons.

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2022, 01:44:54 am
content: I know you asked about “safest” not simply “safe”, but let me make some point.There is no such thing as safe method, because any safe etchant would also be useless. Chemical etching of copper works by turning copper into ions, which then dissolve into water. That happens by copper losing electrons to the etching solution. Which means: it must be anoxidizer. If you don’t want to wait a month for your PCB to be made, it must also be reasonably strong one. And those are not good for you, no matter which you choose.This leads to an important conclusion. Some substances will be a bit less risky to use, some a bit more. Some may produce dangerous fumes or heat. Some may be cumbersome to store. But youmustobserve basic safety, because you are dealing with something that is doomed to pose a risk to do its job.When you accept this, your original question gains a new perspective. If you wear nitrile gloves while working with your etchant, suddenly it becomes of tiny importance if handling the PCB causes irritation to your skin. It shifts towards skipping options that pose risks you can’t easily avoid: like producing fumes, requiring strong acids or giving spontaneous combustion.The second important thing is: while you may get relatively safe etchants, the waste product of the process is always nasty. That’s because it containscopper compounds dissolved in it. And copper is toxic. While the amount hobbyists produce is not enough to care about disposal safety, chronic exposure is something you want to avoid. So no eating while etching, cleaning surface you worked on (if that’s your desk or kitchen table), washing hands, no re-use of etching container and tools for food, good rinsing sink with water and cleaning it.As for recommendations, I only used sodium persulfate. It is widely used here by hobbyist, available as “etchant B-327”. As already noted above it requires elevated temperature to work well, but do not panic: for simpler PCBs you get away without using a heater: hot water (below70°C) will stay warm enough sufficiently long. Moving the PCB with an old plastic ballpen case. May require a second batch. Proper gear is needed for complex or small pitch boards. Storing it requires reasonable protection against moisture ingress and contact with anything that could react with it. It comes in plastic bags. Keeping that bag sealed and away from pointy items that could puncture the bag is enough.

author: tepalia02
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2022, 06:30:51 am
content: With proper ventilation, you can continue using ferric chloride.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2022, 06:47:44 am
content: Quote from: Benta on June 14, 2022, 07:37:33 pmIndeed, and this includes non-uniform etching (edge effects) during any single PCB, as well. Meaning, lone tracks near larger copper areas get extra heat and agitation out of the reaction nearby and over-etch to the point of 10-mil traces just disappearing while other parts of the PCB are not complete.It's a crappy process, we did use it at a club for quite some time and getting good PCBs was colossally hard. Some 12/12 mil stuff was barely acceptable. Full ground planes everywhere helped to slow it down.We transitioned into cupric chloride by basically just starting to collect the waste of the HCL-H2O2 process and reuse it until copper ion concentration goes up and H2O2 can be gradually dropped to zero. This again is much less exothermic and slower process, and easy to control (like ferric chloride). But bubbling is pretty much mandatory, not only to maintain the process itself, but to reduce edge effects and facilitate uniform etching. This is important with every etchant, though.And by bubbling, I mean a good supply of compressed air, not some tiny aquarium air pump.Some see the self-agitation of HCl+H2O2 as a positive, but it really isn't because it's a positive feedback which accelerates etching only in certain areas, and that acceleration drives further acceleration there. Instead, using benign etchant and adding controlled agitation keeps the etching rate consistent over the whole board regardless of local patterns.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2022, 08:17:23 am
content: Another vote for sodium persulphate. Widely available (here) and relatively clean. Although, IIRC it may have been persulphate which bleached a few spots on one of my clothes, so watch out for that.Clear solution, no fumes. The products are sodium sulphate and blue copper sulphate. Both crystallize out if the solution is left to dry, so little waste product is generated if you don't want to dump Cu₂₊ down the drain.Small boards can work without heating - start with hot water and wait a bit longer.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2022, 03:50:29 pm
content: I would highly recommend not to use ferric chloride indoors. Sloshing and bubbling creates aerosol particles that can travel far and are nearly invisible until they start etching all the exposed metal in your house. It will also eat holes in your clothing. Nasty stuff in my opinion. You could try to use a contained system but that's probably more trouble than it's worth. Really, getting your boards made by professionals is the best choice if that's possible.

author: tkamiya
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2022, 05:53:55 pm
content: With reasonable care, Ferric Chloride is safe to use. Use gloves to handle it and use it in well ventilated area. I used to use an old Tupperware in another Tupperware, then put that whole thing outside. Ferric Chloride is very staining. If you get it on your clothing, it will not wash out.Ferric Chloride is really not something to be freaking out about. Just respect it as chemical and take a reasonable care. Really, that's all it takes.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 15, 2022, 06:12:18 pm
content: Indeed, much much more dangerous chemicals are sold to general public. You can get 100% NaOH or KOH granules, which will dissolve your eyes and skin and splash around in boiling exothermic reaction when mixed with water, that's some crazy shit compared to mild etchants like ferric chloride.

author: tepalia02
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2022, 10:10:38 am
content: Here is an interesting article. It's about the commonly used etchants.https://www.pcbway.com/blog/News/Testing_The_Efficiency_Of_PCB_Etchants.htmlThey have tested the Efficiencies Of PCB Etchants.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 21, 2022, 07:41:41 am
content: QuotePlain HCl is not going to etch copper in any reasonable timeframe. You need to add the peroxide, making it significantly more dangerous (probably.) (also: NOT "organic.")The "fumes will corrode any nearby metal" is probably true of any etchant. The amount that an etchant will fume is variable, though. Ferric Chloride is pretty dense stuff, and is not supposed to produce gasses while etching (though apparently it CAN when initially dissolving the FeCl3 in water.) HCl fumes a lot (with or without peroxide)(I mean, it's a GAS dissolved in water, essentialy.)Anything that "needs" aeration or heating is going to be worse than things that work at or near room temperature.Especially aeration - micro-droplets are going to get scattered all over (and breathed) without some sort of enclosure.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2022, 03:59:03 pm
content: the safest and easiest etchant is the one in a chinese pcb factory.- it's far away where it can not splash , spill or creates fumes for you- it's cheap. way cheaper than what you would pay per kg and it comes with a free doublesided board, soldermask , silkscreen and all.drawbackit takes roughly 5 to 8 days to "etch" the board... but you can use that time to do something else.

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 24, 2022, 04:30:42 pm
content: Quote from: free_electron on June 24, 2022, 03:59:03 pmSeconded. Thirded even.The board also etches both sides in perfect register, gets a solder mask in any color, plates through holes and vias, tins pads, then finishes with silk printing - often on both sides. Then the holes all drill, mill and rout themselves, in any size.I made a couple of PCBs years ago, from stick on pads, etch resist pen, ferric chloride crystals, a crude bubble tank and a hobby drill. Just sending gerbers and drill files to a fab house then waiting a week is the smart 21st Century to do. So unless you're on a desert island with no UPS, a fab house is cheaper. It's the fab house's problem to dispose of their hazmats.

author: BlackICE
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2022, 08:27:43 am
content: Many decades ago I ran out of Radioshack's ferric choride. I had some 6M nitric acid I got from Chem class and used that. Nasty N02 gas is emitted. Not the safest is use but what I had on hand. It worked better than ferric choride in speed.I agree the safest is to get them made in China where the pollution is 1000s of miles away. Downside is the turnaround time.

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2022, 08:45:40 am
content: Thinks, if the OP wants cheap and dirty one off prototype PCBs, then isolation milling is the safest and chemical free environmentally safe way forward.https://www.digikey.com/en/maker/projects/everything-you-need-to-know-about-milling-pcbs/9b7575e4ee6e4109aa32c3ccd4d5605b

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2022, 09:57:34 am
content: Quote from: AndyBeez on June 25, 2022, 08:45:40 amIf you are concerned about health, milling produces a lot of fine glassfiber + PCB resin dust. This can be bigger potential issue than the etchants.Fume extraction of the etchant will be simpler and more obvious than safely getting rid of all the dust.I don't know how big of an issue it actually is, but every time I milled FR4 I did have symptons of respiratory irritation.

author: Canis Dirus Leidy
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2022, 10:29:26 am
content: In Soviet times, when iron chloride was in short supply, hobbyists used a mixture of two or three parts of kitchen salt to one part of copper sulfate.And in present times, anoption with pharmacy peroxide and citric acid has been proposed: 100ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide, 30 gram of citric acid and 5 gram (or just tea-spoon) of kitchen salt.Both variants are safe enough but very slow. At room temperature, it takes hours to etch the board.

author: freda
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 25, 2022, 10:21:49 pm
content: Quote from: AndyBeez on June 24, 2022, 04:30:42 pmit is ** NOT ** cheap. (for the hobbyist)1. You can only order one PCB design per order2. to Each order is added a very exorbitant postage $3. you don't need 5 or whatever of thoseSo you guys are saying for every circuit, most probably a dozen or so components thatI prefer not doing a point to point prototype board for, just send it off to china!. FFS your in some bubble.Sure for circuit that gonna make great use of double sided (or more layers) and youhave devoted some time to its development, and maybe already some prototyping ofparts of it, yeah finally sending off a design to china looks like a no brain-er only then.I use ferrite chloride. One good thing about it is that pc boards can float on it, enough surface tension, this produces a cleaner/faster etch.Still, problem when i run out of the quantity i have, where to now get more ? jaycar no longer sell it.ammonia persulphate ? yeah i used it in distant past, not so thrilled with it.been thinking the muriatic acid thing, but some comments above not really encouraging, lol

author: golden_labels
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2022, 10:17:22 am
content: Quote from: freda on June 25, 2022, 10:21:49 pmThe bubble is called “living in United States and earning United States wage”. That’s probabilistic, so of course there are similar people elsewhere, but the further away one moves from US, the more unrealistic that solution becomes.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2022, 11:21:06 am
content: Quote from: freda linkBy far the greatest use of ferric chloride is in water treatment. A quick check showed that is still the case in Australia. (Aluminum chlorides are also used.)It appears to be available from Element14 (https://au.element14.com/c/chemicals-adhesives/ferric-chloride), and the price for 4L is not unreasonable. Amazon may be another source. Barrel quantities are quite cheap. If you buy the solid, I recommend the hexahydrate (which is most common). It does not evolve much heat on dissolving.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 26, 2022, 08:53:33 pm
content: OK. I'm in a bubble. But I think if you add up the costs of tanks, bubble pumps, chemicals, blank boards and other supplies depending on which process you use you will find that the savings from making your own are not so great. Unless you are fortunate enough to live somewhere where you can get surplus items, not pay postage on those items and so on. Or you live in a different kind of bubble where you already own precision drills, exposure frames and many other tools. Don't forget to include the cost of less than 100% yield, which is common in home built boards.With a little thought you can reduce the effective cost of the chinese boards. No, most people don't need five copies of their circuit card. But if you arrange your board right you can have an amplifier section, an H-bridge section, a microcontroller section and perhaps other blocks, all of which can be used in other projects. This is just one example, there are many others.Finally, for me avoiding the need to drill holes and the simplification of having two or more layers to perform layout is worth a bit of extra expense.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2022, 08:57:11 am
content: Another bubble would be if sharing the facility with others is possible. Then you'll be motivated to invest more into the process.The club of electronic students at the university I attended to was highly useful, and I was able to tune the PCB process there. Although I made quite a lot of boards, it sure did help dozens of others made boards, too. I'd say on average 1-3 boards was made per day, which is a lot yearly.We finally had a CNC drill, through hole plating process and soldermask process. With dry film photoresist + laminator and heavily agitated cupric chloride tank, plus some stock of ½oz clad for more demanding boards, resolution and yield was just excellent; I made some highly integrated FPGA boards with 6/6 mil rules, and they were just perfect, but of course suffered from being limited to 2 layers.Many times I went from an idea to CAD, then after 1 hour in CAD and another hour in manufacturing, I had a finished PCB. This was faster than working with soldered breadboards where you need to cut traces and solder tiny wires on at a time.But I haven't been active there since 2015. Probably the process is still running because cupric chloride in a large (10 liters or so?) tank only requires adding HCl every 500-1000 boards, and probably ditching half of the etchant after 10000 boards or so; I don't know because I never did see the need for latter.But we had compressed air and a proper fume hood available from the start.

author: free_electron
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2022, 03:26:30 pm
content: Quote from: golden_labels on June 26, 2022, 10:17:22 am/pedantic mode on/ china is about as far away from the us as possible... and they get it even cheaper cause they don't have to pay international shipping !have you seen the cost of bare copper clad these days ? it is three times the price of a board made in china.a 10x8 inch is 15 $ at digikey.and those are not even photosensitive !if you want them photosensitive : a 6x4 (roughly eurocard) is 10$by the time you got etchant and developer you just lost your money.developer : draino works in a pinch but you are better off with the clean powderi'm a bit shocked at the prices. when i was a kid (16 years ... fff that's 35 years ago) a eurocard , presensitized from Bungard (german brand, excellent quality fiberglass copper clad) was like 2 $ ...i've made many boards with that stuff. i used to buy double eurocard size. i even had a pcb guillotine...i made a custom acrylic etch tank and used ammonium persulfate. aquarium heater , air bubbler...before that : decon-dalo pens and dry-rub transfers (mecanorma and radio shack) on phenolic boards.i had hundreds of round pcb's that came from local TV manufacturer. They were the cutouts from the large boards in the tv. The hole where the neck of the picture tube has to go through. single sided, phenolic with bare copper.My favorite layout tool back then ( being a 8 year old.. ) was an american 1/5 inch grid notebook and a mechanical pencil... the grid was easy to draw ic sockets. resistors,diodes were 3 grid spaces... caps were 2 spaces (those wima 10mm pitch caps) or 1 grid.Then i got my first pc and .. smartwork (through school) ! and in 1988 : protel easytrax 1.61. two years later at work we got autotrax and protel for windows. the rest is history.I Made my negatives using Agfa Litex film (x-ray film)Print it on fotopaper using an inkjet : contact transfer to litex. Develop film using photo developer and fixer.That was really BLACK !You had to reverse the film (litex inverts the image) . I got a process where i would take the still wet first exposure , put a new sheet in contact, se a squeegee to remove as much water as possible from in-between and re-expose. i could remove parallax problems . The initial exposure would make the opening from trace to pad a but due to light leakage. ( sensitive side away from original print so you use the thickness of the litex film to bleed light: induce parallax)Then sensitive to sensitive transfer (no parallax).Haven't etched a board since iteaadstudio and seeedstudio started offering boards. now pcbway and jlcpcb ...

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2022, 05:07:31 pm
content: Quote from: golden_labels on June 26, 2022, 10:17:22 amYou think the US is at the top of the list of wages?As an American, lemme tell you: while the mathematical average (mean) income in USA is pretty high thanks to the insane incomes of the top 0.01%, the median income is significantly worse. Many countries fare better, and the high cost of living in USA, relative to income, is a serious problem.But yeah… whether USA or Switzerland, the cost of raw materials, not to mention the value of the time it takes to do it, makes DIYing PCBs here economically silly compared to ordering from China. You do it locally (whether DIY or from a local PCB manufacturer) when the priority is speed.

author: Old Printer
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 27, 2022, 06:16:42 pm
content: Another consideration...since I have Co2 laser engravers and flatbed UV printers at my disposal I have tried to use those to make DIY PCB's. With the laser you need to coat the copper with some sort of resist, like spray paint etc, then burn away what needs to be exposed to the enchant. With the UV printer you print the resist, a heavy coat of black ink, then off to the enchant. I was using peroxide/HCI as Radio Shack is no more and that is where I got my ferric chloride. The main problem I had was the peroide/HCI would lift off any resist coating, either the UV ink or anything I tried to use with the laser. I finally gave up until I ran across a source for ferric chloride and tried again. The ferric did not disturb my DIY resists like the perox/HCI did and the boards came out quite nice.