While it's probably not what you're looking for you could always use
Chibitronics.

On Wed, Oct 15, 2014 at 4:09 PM, Brandon <[email protected]> wrote:

> You can get plastic pre-coated with conductive materials, like Indium Tim
> Oxide (ITO) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indium_tin_oxide
>
> Cheers,
>
> -Brandon
>
> Brandon Mathis
> KD7INF
> [email protected]
>
> On Wed, Oct 15, 2014 at 4:05 PM, Nathan McCorkle <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> A friend got me thinking about how to draw traces on clear plastic
>> (acrylic), or for that matter maybe glass.
>>
>> I was thinking something like applying photoresist, applying a
>> mask/stencil that would leave the circuit traces uncoated in cured resist.
>> Then somehow functionalize the plastic and then electroplate it, finally
>> removing the photoresist layer mask.
>>
>> I bet carbon sputtering would work to activate, but I bet it would
>> peel/rub off pretty easily, leading to flaky traces that would rip at the
>> slightest mishap.
>>
>> I don't want to consider conductive paint unless it's cheap, in case my
>> friend wants to make lots of these boards. I guess I don't actually know
>> how far a bottle or pen of the conductive ink/paint costs. Also it should
>> be repairable, and I have a feeling that the 'paint' in conductive paint
>> wouldn't allow soldering.
>>
>> If someone points out some cheap-ish conductive goop, and says trying
>> other methods will take too long, be too toxic or involved, etc... I wonder
>> if my friend could consider ripping components and painted traces during
>> repair, then simply re-paint when installing a new part. I think in that
>> case, he might etch the traces from the plastic using the resist-mask, so
>> there'd be a channel to fill goop into.
>>
>> Quickly googling acrylic electroplating turns up this, which seems like
>> they're just functionalizing with a basic solution with metal ions (i.e.
>> KOH or NaOH, K2CO3, Na2CO3) which are readily available.
>> http://www.google.com/patents/US5268088
>>
>> I don't see anyone on youtube though talking about electroplating plastic
>> DIY.
>>
>> --
>> -Nathan
>>
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