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does this exist???

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keny

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I want to print etch resist directly from a laser printer to a thin sheet of copper adhered to poly film.

so basically layout -> printed directly to flex PCB -> Ferric Chloride or similar -> done.
 
I have heard about screen printers using INKJET printers with a home-made ink-replacement that can print directly to the copper.

There have been some tests online about people using a special yellow ink direct to copper, bake the ink into a solid, then etch.

As for laser.. Toner is VERY finely ground plastic. This is why it resists etchant. A laser printer is a BIG IRON. After the laser creates the static charge that attracts the toner to the paper, it goes through a fuser.
The fuser is a rotating drum of a high temperature that squeezes the paper/toner at high pressure and "irons" the toner to a solid.

The best way to do a direct to resist device would be inkjet. Get yourself a CIS (Continous Inking System) This will allow you to start playing around with different chemicals/inks/paints as a resist.

Latex paint thinned down enough to spray through the inkjet nozzles could work.. It would be a top SCORE if you figured out a sub $100 way to set this up.
 
Yea the printer down the street uses direct-to-plate for their web press. The plates are nylon and they just mount em up and roll em'. They still have copper plates too but they use film to develop them.

I finally got a chance to run the copper through this laser printer i found in a dumpster. (lucky me, there's nothing wrong with it) My guess is the copper doesn't allow the static charge to adhere the plastic particles to it. I have a cheap inkjet here as well, but I am not sure I want to sacrifice my main printer for science...
 
Go to a Goodwill or other Thrift store and you can pick up an inkjet for about $5us.

That shouldn't break the bank.

Look for brands that have the print heads as part of the ink cartridge.

I may be wrong, but I think Epson has the heads separate from the ink.. If so, the heads are probably cemented shut with the old ink.

Units like lexmark have the heads in the replacement cartridge, so a junk store printer can work as new with a ink replacement.

More importantly, see if you can get a "refillable" cartridge with heads.

You can then practice with that before spending $99 on a CIS.

The guy who talked about his DIY direct-to-plate printer used silk-screening inks, thinned and fed into the printhead via CIS.

He used a UV Curing light that flash cured the silk-screening ink as the printer printed. This allowed for thin traces, and kept the ink from "running"

I have not been a part of the Silk Screeners Club for a few years, so I have no idea if the design still works, or has been upgraded, or may be online.

It would be quite a revolutionary breakthrough for cheap diy home PCBing.
 
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