Nick I switched to using toner on press-n-peel (pnp) rather than photo, magazine or other glossy papers. I only make minor trace repairs with a permanent marker using pnp, compared to previous papers that I used. I've used a couple of different laser printers and all work great. I select 1,200dpi on the laser printer as well as making the toner a bit darker as I've found it gives better results. If you use an iron make sure to pay special attention to the sides and corners of boards that are bigger than a couple of centimeters. It can take a long time for the toner to melt and bond properly. Easily 5 minutes for larger boards which are not continuously heated under the heel of the iron. I've recently bought a small, cheap tee shirt press which gives even heat and pressure. Pressing down hard with a hot iron, while trying to keep an even heat and pressure gets a bit tiresome after 5 minutes, while Ive found the swing arm tee-shirt press is easy to use.
Ive also switched to ammonium persulphate as an enchant as it is faster and I've stained too many of my cloths with ferric chloride. To etch, I use two containers one inside the other. In the inner container I put the mixed "hot" etchant, while filling the outer container to a shallow depth with boiling water to keep the etchant hot. I don't use a bubble setup. I just wear a pair of thick industrial gloves (for the chemicals and heat) and I use a small piece of cloth t gently wipe the etchant over the boards. I've found this method works fast and caters well for irregular copper depth on boards. I also find that I never over etch as I'm always handling the board. That was a good tip from Nichk and Mike regarding sodium/potassium persulfate, I'll be switching when my current stocks of ammonium persulphate run out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web, visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/neonixie-l/-/50lp8aZfVHMJ. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
