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$13 4'' Hot Laminator

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If not, it would be good for parts... ;)
 
The paper path will have to be arrow straight for it to work. But you're right, for the price you really can't go wrong. The price on the laminate sheets isn't too bad either, would be good for just having around.
 
I've been using a 4" laminator for almost 2 years, and beats the hell out of ironing. Mine is a different brand, and cost a little more, but haven't had any problems. One thing, you have to use thin PCB. Haven't actually tried anything I couldn't cut with my paper cutter. I haven't needed to do a board wider then 4" inches, and often do 2-6 boards on 4x6 copper (smallest my printer does, hate to was Pulsar paper).

If somebody gets this model, be sure to post a review. Its laminators are much better then ironing. This one is definately cheaper then buying an iron, for those who don't have one (I didn't, and now it's just sitting around waiting for a board too large or thick, or parts).
 
To print the artwork for a single board first print just the outline/dimension on a regular sheet of paper. Cut a bit of the pulsar (or P&P Blue) and with blue painters tape attach it to the sheet so that it cover the outline. Put the sheet back in the printer and print the artwork. I make the pulsar paper about 1 inch larger each way so there is a 1/2 inch margin for error for alignment.
 
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I just cut the full sheets into quarter sheets, then fit what I can into the printable area. Usually want more then one copy of the board anyway. The loss isn't that bad on 50 cents worth of paper.
 
Just a quick tip, since the wattage of laminators (especially cheaper ones) is limited it might be a good idea to pre-heat the boards with an iron. Basically anything you can do to get the board above room temperature before feeding it into the laminator.
 
Sceadwian said:
Just a quick tip, since the wattage of laminators (especially cheaper ones) is limited it might be a good idea to pre-heat the boards with an iron. Basically anything you can do to get the board above room temperature before feeding it into the laminator.

Iron! I hate ironing, that's why I bought a laminator in the first place... :)

Just pass it through twice. Mine is a different brand, but a single pass works great. Hope somebody gets one, and let's everyone know if it'll work on PCBs. Really cuts down on time and hassles. I'm a little tempted to get on, just to take a part, and see if it could be modified to do thicker boards. I like the thin board I've been using, cheap, easy to cut and drill. But sometimes a heaver board would be nice.
 
3V0 are you going to purchase that laminator and try it or are you still unsure? For the price I'm willing to pick one up if someone says it's useable, or if the shipping charges are reasonable.
 
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I ordered one.

It would be good to know how long it is on sale. Did not figure that one out. Even at $20 non sale price it will be a good buy if it works. Esp if people can buy it local and advoid shipping.

Shipping charges

[FONT=arial,helvetica]up to $14.99........$6.99
$15.00 to $34.99....$7.99
$35.00 to $69.99..$8.99
$70.00 to $99.99..$9.99
$100.00 to $129.99..$10.99
$130.00 and up..$11.99
[/FONT]
 
Tried magazine paper with my laminator to day. Went better than expected, but still not half as good as Pulsar paper.

I selected a page out of an advertisement from the local newspaper, color print, kind of thin cheap paper. I used a 4x6 layout with 3 copies each, of two different boards.

First attempt, single pass through the laminator. Toner only stuck in patches, but the paper came of pretty cleanly from the areas that the toner stuck to the copper, almost no embedded fibers. None of the 6 PCBs were usuable, and not enough to touch up with a pen.

Second attempt, paper got jammed in the printer. Very first jam on the printer, but luckily all I had to do was pull the toner cartridge. The paper was basically folded in half and slide right out. Easiest printer I've had.

Third attempt, ran the board through the laminator 3 times. Out of 6 boards, I had 2 perfect boards, one needed a little touch up, and the other three needed more work then I felt like doing, but could have used them.

Only thing that might have improved the last batch, would have been to set the print density to max. I just left it at 3 (middle setting, which normally use).
 
I"ve been using Pulsar for the past year or so, and will continue unless I get a CNC machine :) . I'm on vacation for a week, and have been reading the praises of magazine paper for a couple of years. Just had to see for myself. The final results is just as good as the Pulsar paper, but it took a little longer, and imagine it might take a few attempts to get a good board. I used some very thin traces, and I was a little concerned at first.

Anyway, magazine paper works well, but Pulsar is still vastly superior. Faster, no printer jams, and usually just one pass through the laminator and works on the first attempt. Paper slides off under running water, no soaking or rubbing. I'd rather spend my time soldering, etching and drilling holes are the bigger hassles.
 
Sceadwian said:
Just a quick tip, since the wattage of laminators (especially cheaper ones) is limited it might be a good idea to pre-heat the boards with an iron. Basically anything you can do to get the board above room temperature before feeding it into the laminator.
I know, put them in the toaster!

Do laminators with with magazine paper?

If so then perhaps it's something I could consider.
 
ive heard of people using toasters to cook their PCBs for premium eating temperature :D

Where do you get your Double or Single sided boards? I want to start making PCBs again, but at the local radiocrap its too expensive, and I wanted a professional opinion. So any opinions?
 
HarveyH42 said:
Tried magazine paper with my laminator to day. Went better than expected, but still not half as good as Pulsar paper.

I selected a page out of an advertisement from the local newspaper, color print, kind of thin cheap paper. I used a 4x6 layout with 3 copies each, of two different boards.
Sorry, I didn't notice your post.

Was it glossy or matt magazine paper?

How long did you soak it for before removing the paper?
 
Krumlink said:
ive heard of people using toasters to cook their PCBs for premium eating temperature :D

Where do you get your Double or Single sided boards? I want to start making PCBs again, but at the local radiocrap its too expensive, and I wanted a professional opinion. So any opinions?

I get boards from Electronic Goldmine. So far they have all been good quality fiberglass boards. Price is right.

They have 5.5" x 12" Scissor Cut SS Copper Clad for $1.75 but they have been on sale for less. These are very thin boards at only .016" but are easy to work with and a good choice when getting started.

Look under copper clad on their site, they also have .021" boards in DS and SS.
 
A toaster oven would work great to pre-heat the board though you'll have to avoid heating it too much and melting the board. It's defintily high on my list of projects, but 99% of my projects need to wait for me to have a house to put this stuff in => I've seen web sites that use a toaster oven to reflow solder SMD bits, would make it that much more useful =>
 
Hero999 said:
Sorry, I didn't notice your post.

Was it glossy or matt magazine paper?

How long did you soak it for before removing the paper?

Matte, basic newspaper weight (probably why the printer jam). Soaked maybe 5 minutes or so. It was obviously coming loose, and pulled apart easy. Didn't have to get rough with it to get the paper off.
 
I've always used glossy paper, I've never tried matte paper before as I didn't think it'd be very good. I'm certain thin glossy paper would give you better results and it's less likely to jam up your printer as it's normally not quite as thin as newspaper.
 
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