That Pulsar paper does look very nice (especially based on that image you posted), but in their tutorial they recommend ironing their TRF (toner reactive foil) on top after you transfer the toner. Do you use TRF or just the initial transfer?
This seems to be exactly the same as what gets done with Press-n-peel blue sheets, except with PnP it's all done in one step - print pattern, iron, and immediately peel it off, and you're ready to go, no soaking required. ( http://www.techniks.com )
I do know from personal experience that this plastic-foil-type coating that gets put on top of the toner makes a HUGE difference in etching because you're not relying on the quality of the toner to make a perfect resist - even using a no-brand, dirt-cheap, refilled toner cartridge that I bought on ebay, I still never see pitting/etching through the resist. I'm sure whatever premium you pay for the transfer sheets is made up for in the price difference between cheap refilled toner cartridges and way-overpriced brand-new ones.

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EEgeek.net

 

Evandude,
I use the TRF foil on top of the toner. If the board is very fine or if the foil wrinkles I use two layers of the foil.

It may be that the two systems work about the same. Do you get the same detail with the Press-n-peel blue ? If so it seems the systems are about equivlent.

3v0

 

I've never really tried going below 10 mils, partly because none of my boards have required it, and partly because it wasn't until recently that I figured out how to get Eagle to let me select that fine of a trace width.

Some older pictures of some of my results, just for reference (10 mil traces all around):
http://eegeek.net/electronics/pnpb_transferred.jpg
http://eegeek.net/electronics/pnpb_transferred2.jpg
http://eegeek.net/electronics/pnpb_etched.jpg

It's kind of hard to see, since the blue film basically looks black from most angles when it's on the toner, but it is in fact on there.

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EEgeek.net

 

I did use the stock toner that came with the ML2010 printer.

BTW, the toner will "reflow" at high temps. You can put the board in the oven and it'll soften, almost liquify. I'm just thinking if there's any pinholes or lamination issues that allowing it to reform could take care of adhesion problems, and might pop out any pinholes or cracks in the toner layer. I can't back that up yet though.

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I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.

 

That's the trick then. I use the stuff without the foil, but all my traces are quite wide.
I started with the Pulsar paper because it was on the shelf of a local shop, and I thought I'd try it. The first couple of times it didn't work near as well as magazine paper, but I think that was just one sheet. The rest seems quite good. Now I want to take a trip back to that store for the foil.

 

Check to see how they treat/store the paper at the store. If they are not keeping it in a sealed pouch/container the top sheet could have been contaminated.

With any of the toner transfer methods you need to be very serious about not touching any surface that takes part in the transfer.

3v0

 

Yes, we are always aware of the copper, and keeping that clean, but that is good advice for the paper too, and perhaps that was where the problem was. Anyway, can't wait to try the foil.

 

This poor guy lost his post.. Hope we helped him.. The gloss paper works great for me anyway.

 

I was reading here and there about different methods of creating pcbs...

Could you guys tellm e how you make the vias (holes)? Cause I cannot imagine myself drilling so many holes for my design ...

 

I'm new to this so I'm not speaking from a whole lot of experience, but I did make some vias today and they looked OK. Here's how I did it:

I did the vias before putting on any components. I took a pre-tinned copper wire the same size as the hole, pushed it clear through and soldered the other side to the board. Trimmed off the other side using electrician's wire cutters. These cutters will give you a nice, flush surface. Then I flipped the board, put it on a flat surface, soldered the other side and trimmed it off.

 

Well there are 3 things here. The basic component througholes on a one-sided design are one thing. Yeah, you may have to drill a great number of holes.
The component holes on a 2-sided may be a bit more tricky because the lead needs to solder to both the top and bottom layer. I think in most cases the wicking action of the solder should carry it to the top layer but it's good to check. Some components obscure the pins in a way which makes it difficult to see or add solder to the top pads.

Vias are holes to join the top and bottom traces, but do not contain a component lead. This is easy enough to fill with a piece of lead or wire soldered in to make the connection. However, with vias under most SMD components I don't see how to do it, the leaded via won't be completely flush so an SMD component won't sit on top of it.

Unfortunately, since SMDs often have densely packed leads and some are pitched so close together you can't put a trace between pins, vias under the component are THE most likely place to have to put them.

There are some PCB milling machines which can drill holes too. They're expensive.

There's a process where you drill the component holes and vias and apply some conductive gel or paint or something and put it in a plating solution which plates the holes. That might be how they do it commercially, I dunno, but it sounds tough to do at home.

There is a system where you get a bunch of tiny tubes that you press into the via holes to make the via. Not sure if they are flush so they won't keep an SMD from mounting properly on top of it. It sure sounds like it needs soldering to guarantee good contact too.

Anybody know of any processes I missed?

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I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes.

 

I recall that someone way using conductive paste in place of plated through holes. He said it was working for him but others were skeptical.

Hav not tried it. It would have to be faster then soldering in wires to be useful.

3v0

 

Yes, that is the killer. I've drilled a small hole through the pad, and filled it with a wire, soldered it, then ground the surface down so the connector would sit flat, but this is so time consuming, and not really effective. Now I just try to keep all the traces running to such things on the bottom. I did get some eyelets, but they are way too large, and clunky!
I think they use vacuum to draw the conductive material through at the same time it is drilled. It would sure be nice to have, but if I got plated through holes at home, next I'd want solder mask...
How do you guys register your double sided boards? I have been etching one side, then drilling a few holes, and using a wire poked through the holes, into the top layer paper, before I iron it to the copper. It works, but it's slow, as you have to etch twice.

 

Then don't etch it twice! - iron one side on, then drill some of the holes, align the other side with the holes and iron that - then etch both sides at the same time.

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PIC programmer software, and PIC Tutorials at:
http://www.winpicprog.co.uk

 

Duh!
I deserve to live in poverty!

Thanks Nigel, I'll try that one today.