Hello community,
I am trying to make my own Arduino extension boards. I am looking around for a fairly low budget solution. I have been using press and peel with very mixed results. I'm looking at making a UV light enclosure to get a more clean and reliable boards. I have used breadboards so fair but, they are not easy to transport with components already populating them.
Gates:
Hello community,I am trying to make my own Arduino extension boards. I am looking around for a fairly low budget solution. I have been using press and peel with very mixed results. I'm looking at making a UV light enclosure to get a more clean and reliable boards. I have used breadboards so fair but, they are not easy to transport with components already populating them.
There's always Veroboard and similar, that allow soldering rather than just plugging in components like on a breadboard. Also, you can get blank Arduino prototyping shields.
Having said that, I make my own boards using positive-acting pre-sensitised blank PCB material, UV exposure, developing, etching etc, but it's not that cheap, and is fairly labour-intensive for one-offs. (I think I must be a masochist.)
Hi Steve,
I used vero strip boards in the past. I was thinking of upgrading. I was thinking of a photo plotter CAD/CAM.... just a bit out of my budget guidelines atm.
I've been using this successfully. You don't nee a UV light box - I just expose to the midday sun for about 3 seconds!
Russell.
russellz:
I've been using this successfully. You don't nee a UV light box - I just expose to the midday sun for about 3 seconds!Russell.
I don't use a UV light box as such either - just a pair of 16 inch UV tubes in a standard fixture, 90 second exposure. Those UV boxes are too @#$% expensive.
You can expose most photo-sensitive etch-resists in sunlight, but the Sun does have to be out for good results, and you can't do it at night of course without a UV lamp. And no board-making in rainy weather.
Also, over/under-exposure can be a problem, since you can't control the exact amount of UV.
I'll stick to the UV light method, I think. Much more controllable/flexible.
Services like OSHPark make boards much better than you can make at home for cheaper than you can buy a UV lamp, like under a dollar per square inch.
The only advantage of home etching is you can get a quicker turnaround time for simple test boards. For anything that you want to deploy for a year or more, the professional board is much better and the extra week waiting is insignificant.
MorganS:
Services like OSHPark make boards much better than you can make at home for cheaper than you can buy a UV lamp, like under a dollar per square inch.
Depends on which country you're in. Here in Australia there are no decent low-cost, fast-turnaround manufacturers that I know of.
Getting them made overseas isn't an option - too slow for delivery and the delivery can cost an arm and a leg, even if the board itself is cheap.
My home-made boards cost about what you say - roughly a dollar per square inch.
I have a manufacturer that I use for production runs, but for up to about 10-12 boards I just make them here. I have good design software and use matt transparency film w/ laser printer for the transparencies, so get pretty good results. The biggest problems are no solder-mask and no silk-screened labelling. Oh, and a maximum of two layers - single or double-sided only.
Same problem in NZ.
I email my Gerber files to "Smart-Prototyping" in HK.
US$12.90 for ten 10x10cm double sided boards.
That's <10 cents per square inch.
Slow freight is about three weeks, and about the same price.
Quality so far has been very good.
Leo..
Those UV boxes are too @#$% expensive.
@YoungSteve
You can make your unit sold state.
.
Nobody has yet mentioned good ol' laser toner boards. I do some photoresist, some laser. If I want finer traces, I use photo resist.
The laser technique is as simple as it gets (provided you have a suitable laser printer). Google it up. That being said, some laser printers are using a toner that doesn't work very well for this. My laser printer is a Canon MF4450.
Also, the cheapest and fastest etch bath comprises 2 parts H2O2 (as available at a drug store), to 1 part HCL (as available at a swimming pool supply store. Just be sure to use it with good ventilation.
LarryD:
@YoungSteve
You can make your unit sold state.
Thanks for the link Larry. I thought about using UV LEDs when my UV tubes eventually die, rather than replace them. I could make a decent box easily - my second hobby is woodworking and I have a well-equipped workshop.
Meantime, the dual 16" fluorescent tubes work well, with a 90 second exposure at about 3" distance. I'm too lazy to put in the effort of building a box while the old tubes still work, although it would be nice to be able to expose two sides of a double-sided board at the same time. If I did build one, I'd add a built-in timer, too. Currently I just watch the clock for 90 seconds.
(I don't make many boards, so my tubes have lasted over 20 years so far, and might well outlast me. 
)
jrdoner:
Nobody has yet mentioned good ol' laser toner boards. I do some photoresist, some laser. If I want finer traces, I use photo resist.The laser technique is as simple as it gets (provided you have a suitable laser printer). Google it up. That being said, some laser printers are using a toner that doesn't work very well for this. My laser printer is a Canon MF4450.
Also, the cheapest and fastest etch bath comprises 2 parts H2O2 (as available at a drug store), to 1 part HCL (as available at a swimming pool supply store. Just be sure to use it with good ventilation.
I set myself up long ago for the photo-resist method, and keep plenty of pre-coated blank board material on hand, so have never tried the toner method. I have some pretty fine tracks at times, between IC pads, and don't know how reliable the toner method would be on those designs either.
I'm a bit of a dinosaur, so still use ferric chloride for etching, in a vertical etching tank with a fish tank air pump for agitation. If I warm the solution before etching, a board only takes about 3-5 minutes. I could fit a few boards at a time, but usually make one-offs. I'm retired, and just do it for fun these days. I really enjoy making my own boards.
@YoungSteve
FYI:
I use these, 7,000mcd:
.
MorganS:
Services like OSHPark make boards much better than you can make at home for cheaper than you can buy a UV lamp, like under a dollar per square inch.The only advantage of home etching is you can get a quicker turnaround time for simple test boards. For anything that you want to deploy for a year or more, the professional board is much better and the extra week waiting is insignificant.
I second these scentiments. Particular since my attempts to make my own boards have turned out so poorly.
You can read the religous wars about which PCB design software is best (hint, it's DipTrace) here.
Dinosaurs (like me) can learn new tricks.
I designed this some time ago. Double-sided with 0.024" tracks, lots of vias and smd parts on both sides.
This was not possible with the kitchen-methods I used before.
I put now more effort into Eagle, and less on the stressfull and messy things.
Leo..
OldSteve:
You can expose most photo-sensitive etch-resists in sunlight, but the Sun does have to be out for good results, and you can't do it at night of course without a UV lamp. And no board-making in rainy weather.
Also, over/under-exposure can be a problem, since you can't control the exact amount of UV.
True. I guess I'm lucky living in an area where there are 300 days of sunshine a year 
If you're in Oz I guess it's the same. I find little variation between summer and winter provided the board is angled to the sun which provides plenty of UV. Might be different if you live in a high lattitude.
Russell.
russellz:
True. I guess I'm lucky living in an area where there are 300 days of sunshine a year
If you're in Oz I guess it's the same. I find little variation between summer and winter provided the board is angled to the sun which provides plenty of UV. Might be different if you live in a high lattitude.Russell.
Yep, in Oz, (Nowra, South Coast NSW), near sea level. But I doubt that we get 300 days of sunshine per year, without either clouds or rain.
And I don't know about where you are, but here the Sun doesn't often shine at night.
(I do a lot of my board-making at night.)
Horses for courses, I guess, when all's said and done.
Thanks guys,
I use Labcenter Electronics, Proteus 6.7 many thanks to you all.
Gates:
Thanks guys,
I use Labcenter Electronics, Proteus 6.7 many thanks to you all.
Sorry that we got a bit off-track.
I have started to make a UV light box project. I still need to work out the .timing of exposure..
