I’d like to start making PCBs instead of using stripboard. Stripboard is horrid.
I think the easiest approach for me will be to expose the board to UV through a transparency printed on an inkjet. Because there’s an inkjet in the house, and I think that’s how we used to do it at school.
It seems fun to make my own UV box for this, from LEDs. Useful things about that:
- Forum post from a guy who did it
- Decent price on UV LEDs in bulk. Farnell have no through-hole UV LEDs in stock. wtf?
- Clever wizard for designing an optimal matrix with a given type and number of LEDs
- Wikipedia page on UV, which cleared up some confusion over the exact difference between UV-A|B|C (wavelength) and whether one or more of them might be filtered out by a given UV LED (no).
On the subject PCBs in general:
- This guy does what I’d like to do
- Eagle PCB, which you can use to design the layout, and which can make a layout for you. Mamazing.
I will need:
- The UV box
- Some Inkjet-safe transparencies
- Photosensitive copper-clad board
- Ferric chloride
I already have a printer, Sodium Hydroxide and acetone.