What is the best way to make printed circuit boards at home?

[eeguy]

Hi, I recall that many years ago at school I designed a circuit on the computer. Then, printed it out on an OPH sheet. Somehow I put it on a (copper?) board and bathed it in some kind of chemical solutions for about half a day to make a circuit board. So many years have passed. What is the best way to make circuit boards at home these days?

[engrguy42]

The best way to make them at home is DON'T. 

It's far easier to get some free software (aka, KiCad), draw a schematic and lay out the board (pretty much drag-n-drop components and footprints), then spit that out into a file that you upload to a company that will, within a day or two, produce your board(s) for a few $$ and ship them to you within a week or so. Last time I did it I got 10 boards for "free" (paid only $20 for shipping from China to US) and received them a week after I ordered.

[m3vuv]

i make my own using the toner transer method,i then etch them in a mix of fuming hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide mix.

[themadhippy]

Big clive  explains  one method



however as mentioned above,by the time youve bought all the bits its cheaper to get them made in china,only drawback is if you need a board NOW

[Psi]

i make my own using the toner transer method,i then etch them in a mix of fuming hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide mix.

If you really want to do it yourself, then this is the best way.
Though i recommend using proper pcb toner transfer paper rather than the plain old glossy magazine paper that some guides recommend.
The two types i know about are.
Press-n-peal blue  (used it myself with good results)
Toner transfer system by Pulsar.

It can take some practice, don't try to do a 100 pin TQFP on your first attempt. Stick to TH or SOIC stuff and you will be fine.
The key part is the iron on process. A press iron or feeding through a laminator many times is the best open. 
A hand iron tends to move things and smudge the image, or not get uniform coverage.   
I used a press iron and pressed for 5min then switched it off and left it to cool down before removing.

Set the printer settings to as dense/black as possible. You want maximum toner on the paper.
Also the toner used in some laser printers doesn't work as well as others. YMMV

It's also important to clean your copper PCB first. Get the oxides off.

[Syntax Error]

The best way to make them at home is DON'T. 

Seconded.

PCB fab has moved on so much since the days of stick on pads and etch resist pens - as sold by defunked Maplin. Even PCB milling is a bit 'last year'.

By default, fab houses produce double sided boards with solder masks, silk screens, plated holes/vias and cut slots. Basically, all the layers you create in Kicad, etc. They'll even laser a solder paste stencil if you need one.

And (mostly) boards are made to tolerances way beyond the kitchen sink maker. So let the fab keep a stock of drill sizes and deal with those nasty etch chemicals. Just upload your Gerber and drill files, pay and wait about ten days. So much easier.

Check out OSH Park for small sized small scale boards. https://oshpark.com
Other fabs are available.

[TK]

OSHpark is expensive, try to get a quotation with jlcpcb.  You can get 5 boards (10x10mm) for $2 + Shipping

[Syntax Error]

OSH Park boards are made in the USA. Which is why they are not as dirt cheap as Chinese fab houses. But for their basic prototype service, global shipping is inclusive. And the quality is spot on.

[Jwillis]

Hi, I recall that many years ago at school I designed a circuit on the computer. Then, printed it out on an OPH sheet. Somehow I put it on a (copper?) board and bathed it in some kind of chemical solutions for about half a day to make a circuit board. So many years have passed. What is the best way to make circuit boards at home these days?

Making your own boards is part of the fun with electronics.
Doing traces down to 0.5mm on 1 oz copper clad is easy. 2oz takes more etching time. 
Build the circuit and PCB with KiCad or other program.
I make negative of the pattern on acetate with the toner printer . Then use the Negative Photoresists which gives a much finer detail to the PCB art than toner transfer but not as fine as positive photoresist . Flash with UV and  develop .Then use the muratic acid / Hydrogen peroxide etching process. Lots of You Tube videos on the process.

I do it this way because it's just to expensive and takes to much time to send out  from where I live. I can whip up a PCB quickly and have it soldered or mostly soldered the same day.
Chemicals like Ferric Chloride are to hard for me to acquire so the only thing I need to order is copper clad which I can buy in bulk.
It also gives a personal sense of pride to do my own boards.

[TK]

For quick prototypes I use protoboard PCBs and solder the traces with wires.  I used to etch my own PCBs when I was teenager, could not afford a drill so "invented" SMD soldering by bending the through hole pins outwards... that was in the 80s.  If I need more than 1 board, I just use Kicad and order from JLCPCB... try to order several designs at the same time to save on shipping

[xavier60]

Despite the cheap Chinese made PCBs, I still make my own one offs and initial prototypes, only single sided.
What has been working for me is toner transfer with Press-N-Peel film from Jaycar.
Judging by Youtube demonstrations, incomplete tone adhesion is expected, I rarely have this problem now.
The blank PCB must not be warped and edges smoothed, cut it with a hacksaw rather than hand shears.
I clean the copper with a green scouring pad and test the surface by pre-etching for a few seconds looking for
an even matt appearance, no shinny patches which will later selectively delay the final etching.
I rinse off the PCB with rain water and dry it with hot air.
My printer's toner density improves when I reduce the moisture content of whatever is being printed to, with hot air.
I spend some time making certain that the film is thoroughly ironed to the PCB, all of the film area appears well burnished.
I etch in Cupric chloride.
The earlier pre-etching seems to result in less track fattening and a more even final etch.

I set my particular iron to "cotton", 150°C average.
https://www.thegoodguys.com.au/russell-hobbs-rapid-steam-iron-rhc902

[james_s]

I do mine using toner transfer with Press n Peel blue transfer film and etch in HCl + peroxide, it works the best of anything I've tried. I rarely do it anymore since it's SO cheap to have boards professionally made but I still keep the stuff around because sometimes I want to have a board in an hour instead of weeks.

[Raj]

How I started was  with wire wrapping with through hole components stuck in cardboard. Then move onto etching pcb using ferric chloride with mask made of hand drawn oil paint and later on laserjet toner transfer method.on self etched boards, I used SMD first, to avoid drilling, then I started to use dremel. All of the circuits that i've made, after 10 years, still work, though obsolete and replaced with modern stuff (I kept em for sentimental values).

I stopped after I started an accounting job and I use JLC now.

I suggest, you go the the same route

[madires]

Producing PCBs at home doesn't make much sense anymore. Expensive tools, more or less nasty chemicals (sometimes hard to get or get rid of), cumbersome vias, no silkscreen, no solder mask, and swearing. When you have all the machinery and just need a simple single-sided PCB then it's a different story. Personally I use the positive photoresist based process:
- laser-print layout on tracing paper
- apply some special spray to get nice solid black areas
- put layout and board coated with positive photoresist into UV exposure box
- developer bath (NaOH) to remove exposed photoresist
- etching tank (Na2S2O8 at 45°C)
- remove remaining photoresist
- drill PCB
- apply soldering lacquer to protect PCB

With that process I'm able to get traces down to 0.2mm reliably (0.15 is doable, 0.1 is the limit for my setup).

[austfox]

- apply some special spray to get nice solid black areas

I also use tracing paper. What is this special spray?

[TK]

Permanent marker works as well, probably not as good as laser printed heat transfer, but it is a cheaper option

[madires]

It's SOLVENT 50, meant to remove labels but also works great as a toner enhancement spray while being less expensive.

[Doctorandus_P]

If you browse a bit around on intstuctables or youtube you'll find a bunch of different methods. There is no "best" method. It's always a tradoff between equipment, price, materials, accuracy you need, experience etc.

Big Clive's video looked quite good and informative.
Marco Reps has been experimenting with UV film and a UV laser in a CNC/3D printer for  directly developing the film .

[Bud]

i make my own using the toner transer method,i then etch them in a mix of fuming hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide mix.

Wow! What is wrong with ferric chloride ?

[SilverSolder]

Really large PCBs are still significantly cheaper to DIY than buying in.  E.g. a large "motherboard" or similar item is not cheap to have made.

Large areas of solid ground fill is a problem with the laser toner transfer method.  If you avoid that, the toner transfer method is pretty quick and works well.

I get the most accurate results by using photo resist film, with high quality artwork inkjet printed on absorbent transparency. This method has no problems with large ground fills...

[wizard69]

Hi, I recall that many years ago at school I designed a circuit on the computer. Then, printed it out on an OPH sheet. Somehow I put it on a (copper?) board and bathed it in some kind of chemical solutions for about half a day to make a circuit board. So many years have passed. What is the best way to make circuit boards at home these days?

If you want to do it for fun, go the toner transfer method.

IF the desire is to build a complex board with multiple layers and odd features go with a service to make the board for you.

If you are doing a lot of experimentation with odd board designs consider a router.   routers can be great for higher power electronics where you actually want to leave most of the copper on the board.   Or if there are a lot of structural considerations in the board.

[Psi]

i make my own using the toner transer method,i then etch them in a mix of fuming hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide mix.

Wow! What is wrong with ferric chloride ?

- It stains everything it touches
- It is very toxic to aquatic life so you should never ever pour it down the drain
- It saturates with copper after a while and you need to dispose and buy more   (HCL+Peroixde chemistry is weird, it kinda automatically replenishes itself, you almost never have to replace it. Maybe add a little more peroxide now and then)
- It works best when heated. (HCL+peroxide works fine at room temp)
- It can be harder to source/buy than HCL+Peroxide. (HCL you can get at any hardware store for pools and peroxide at any chemist.)
- It's dark so you cant see if your board is done without taking it out.  (HCL+peroxide is transparent blue/green)

IMHO, for hobby stuff hydrochloric acid and hydrogen peroxide is just better in every way. 

[Mechatrommer]

i once started with i guess the peroxide thing because i cant get the FeCl supply during that time. bought from china in white salty form once or twice. mix with clear water and becomes blue when etching, it is said it produce friendly oxygen (or H2O?) the annoying thing about it is we cant store it any longer than a few weeks and it loses its etching capability even if you put the whole bag in the water. later i got FeCl supply locally and thats what i currently use and store for years now. i bought like 4 bags, now i'm on 2nd bag after the 1st bag saturated with copper after years of usage.

back to diy pcb, i didnt have much luck with toner transfer method mainly due to laser printer problem, cant give me dense black print on large PCB with ground plane everywhere, the laser drum always like to attract fungus in my climate. i had 2nd laser printer bought just to make pcb developed fungus within weeks after purchase, now its an idle weight on my desk to put things on top of it for years now. getting uniform transfer, the right paper and ironing is another issue. so no more toner transfer, i built a resist ink "scratching" machine similar to below video. with it, ground poor is rock solid, and etching success is like 1-5 percent traces short correction repair, and most of the time 100% correct without needing for repair, given etchant in good healhty condition (not near saturation). btw soic and smd packages is my favourite, and failure rate is increased higher using toner transfer with these footprints. ymmv.

[jmelson]

Hi, I recall that many years ago at school I designed a circuit on the computer. Then, printed it out on an OPH sheet. Somehow I put it on a (copper?) board and bathed it in some kind of chemical solutions for about half a day to make a circuit board. So many years have passed. What is the best way to make circuit boards at home these days?

I rarely do PCBs at home, now, although I do have the equipment.  But, the best way is with dry film resist.  I built my own laser photoplotter to make the master artwork with greater precision than a laser printer can do.  Especially for two-sided boards, this is necessary, as most printers don't register the images precisely, so the two back to back images won't line up well enough.  For small boards, though, you can get away with it.  Once you have good master artwork, you can then laminate dry film resist to the blank copper board, expose the resisto to the master artwork, develop the resist and etch in your favorite horrible solution.  The etchants are pretty nasty stuff, I use Ferric Chloride.  Part of the trick is to get the etching to go as fast as possible, to preserve the drawn details and line and pad witdths.  I etch for 90 seconds in 45 C FeCl with a spray etcher.

Jon

[cdev]

Did you know that you can do toner transfer using a laser printer, printing out your design on the cheapest possible paper, (junk mail works best!) then scuff up your PCB with some steel wool to get it abraded pretty well, then use the iron to transfer the toner to the PCB, using a flat piece of wood as your ironing board. and for the etchant- use hydrogen peroxide, vinegar and salt.

 It works great, at least for small boards and is fairly fast. if the etching slows down add more salt. You can keep doing this for quite a while. Oh, after you are finished etching there is a black gunk on your boards, which you need to clean off with acetone or nail polish remover, be careful not to get it on any plastics. that will clean the board and it should look good. Make sure to prtect your boards with some kind of coating or they may corrode if its very humid.

So you can etch with household materials, for cleanup I just pour the used etchant in a gallon jar I have and it dries out and now after years of doing this there is just a bunch of greenish dried out powder in the bottle. So I have not needed to dispose of it yet.

Hi, I recall that many years ago at school I designed a circuit on the computer. Then, printed it out on an OPH sheet. Somehow I put it on a (copper?) board and bathed it in some kind of chemical solutions for about half a day to make a circuit board. So many years have passed. What is the best way to make circuit boards at home these days?

I rarely do PCBs at home, now, although I do have the equipment.  But, the best way is with dry film resist.  I built my own laser photoplotter to make the master artwork with greater precision than a laser printer can do.  Especially for two-sided boards, this is necessary, as most printers don't register the images precisely, so the two back to back images won't line up well enough.  For small boards, though, you can get away with it.  Once you have good master artwork, you can then laminate dry film resist to the blank copper board, expose the resisto to the master artwork, develop the resist and etch in your favorite horrible solution.  The etchants are pretty nasty stuff, I use Ferric Chloride.  Part of the trick is to get the etching to go as fast as possible, to preserve the drawn details and line and pad witdths.  I etch for 90 seconds in 45 C FeCl with a spray etcher.

Jon