Training Tuesday #6 Etch a single sided PCB

Good afternoon folks welcome to another Training Tuesday this week we will cover Etching a single sided PCB

Tools or items needed 

1. Copper plate
2. Transfer paper 
3. laminator or iron
4. sand paper 
5. rubbing achol 
6. water
7. a plastic container 
8. etching Solution
9. Gloves 
10. Printer 
11. design software like Fritzing or Eagle
12. Tweezers  

I found the best place to start was by buying a kit of ebay there are pretty cheap and come with plenty of the items needed 

Step one

First you need to design the board using software  like Fritzing ,Eagle or you can even just use Adobe Illustrator if you know exactly what you want. And remember to flip the design once you have it complete before you print it out.

Step two

Print out your design onto the shiny side of the transfer paper

Step three

Sand the copper plate (this is the point were I start wearing gloves )

Step four

Wash the Copper With Some Water and Rubbing Alcohol and Let It Dry

Step five

Cut Out the Designs and Place Them Face Down on the Copper try to leave a margin around the design to help it stick 

Step six

Run the Copper Plate With the Design Face Down Through a laminator 5-7 Times Until the Plate Is Hot use the laminating pouch or 2 pieces around the plate  if you don't have a laminator you can use an iron 

Step seven

After Running the Plate Through a Laminator or Iron Place the Plate Into a Cold Bath and Agitate Until the Paper Floats Off

Step eight

Place the plate Into the Etching Solution and Agitate for 25-30 Minutes or Until All the Copper Has Dissolved Around the Design (make sure you have gloves on )

Step Nine

Once All the Copper Is Gone Rinse It in the Water Bath, Let It Dry and Use Rubbing Alcohol to Whip Off the Ink Transferred Onto the PCB

Step Ten

You Have a Etched PCB Board But You Still Need to Drill the Holes the best way to drill the holes out of a PCB board is to use a dremel, a 1/32 inch drill bit and it would be best to use a dremel press but if you cant do that you can clamp down the dremel and bring the board to the dremel by hand to drill the holes. 

What have we learned 

In the ten steps we have gone through we have turned a copper plate  into a working pcb using this we can put are own broad designs to work 

Thanks for taking the time to read this if you liked what you've read then please check back tomorrow after 17.00gmt for another update thanks again. Dobby