[mods: This is a General Electronics themed forum, though when in it its official title is "Using Arduino", so I'm shooting as close to the fuzzy target as I can]
Experts,
Which method(s) do you use to make your PCBs?
I asked before about PCB software, and have been trying from the replies to get good with KiCAD (I'm mostly linuxy).
Now that I've figured out how to be dangerous, I am at the point where I have all the etchant, cleaners, etc. but because I own no LJ printer (I can pay for printouts at Staples, etc.), I looked around for alternatives. While the inkjets seem mostly used to create transparencies for the photosensitive blue film (often 'doubled up'), most use LJs and either hacked laminators (depth) or good 'ole clothes irons to transfer (re-melt) the plastic toner to the copper.
I've already spent a lot on this whole workflow-even buying a new drill press-so I would really value the combined/shared experience of those of you who have made all the mistakes already, and have found what works for them.
I've gone over all the popular videos on YT concerning all the different methods, and I guess like a lot of folks, I'd love to find the holy grail for us inkjet folks (I refill), which like I said above may only be for photo film. I did see a video about a special kind of ink that was yellow, and only one kind of printer could use it (Brother?), but that looked like a big commitment for someone who didn't already have a printer of this model/type.
So I have lots of boards (trying to keep 'test runs' to a minimum!), and I still may end up trying LJ & Photo, but thee is a lot of wisdom, I discovered, in things like timing of UV or sunlight, the perfect temperature of the iron with toner (too hot is as bad as too cool), and of course the laminator hacks (Mr. Carlson comes to mind!) are endlessly fascinating!
Thanks for responding, and as you can see by this long first post in the thread, I am quite serious about my question.
pat