I have tried blue press n peel from jaycar and gave up due to inconsistently poor results and frustration.
Really? i've had pretty good success using blue press n peel from jaycar.
- Ya need a printer which can do nice dark blacks.
- Make sure the sheet cant move while you iron it. I make it larger than needed and superglue two corners.
- I put the pcb on a sheet of cork 5mm thick. Then the press n peel blue goes on, then two sheets white paper on top.
- Press with reasonable force on the iron (but not crazy) and vary the force direction (the iron surface wont be perfectly flat)
- When your done keep the iron on the work and switch it off at the wall to wait for it to cool down. If you try and take it off while its hot you'll just smudge it.
- Once it's cool peal the stuff off slowly on a diagonally axis. Roll it off so it only separates one bit at a time.
eg
--> use finger to roll it off
______
[__blue sheet_____
----pcb--------------------------
- I use FeCl or HCL+peroxide to etch.
I did try ammonium persulphate once but its no good for press-n-peel.
Ammonium persulphate needs to be VERY hot to work and the heat will make the toner and press-n-peel separate from the pcb during the etch.
I did this TQFP with press n peel blue.
It pushed the stuff a bit far (few breaks that needed pen touchup) but it did work well enough to use.