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Question about making your own PCB boards

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alphaai

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Hello,

Ive noticed that majority of the home made pcb boards have alot of spacing between each pcb trace line. Am I right?

When I look at professional grade like at the back of my graphics card, I can see that there is pcb trace line which has a width which is maybe smaller as well as the thickness which is maybe smaller.

I havent measure it so I dont know what those trace line width are.

If I want to pack as much SoC and ICs as possible onto a circuit in a small area then it makes sense to aim for smaller trace lines. Does anyone know what the minimum is?
and whether that can be achieve using home methods with uv photo-etching?

I am only interested in surface mounting components, not thru hole components.

Looking forwards to your guys responses.

Thanks,

Ben
 
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If you want surface mount only, then the solution is to find a job shop that will do it for you. Only the most refined hobbyist atempts that take months or years to accomplish can do what they do, and the cost vs time must be accounted for.
 
I'll 2nd that. Fine geometries require both high resolution imaging And precise etching control. Photo sensitive etch resist and image transfer solves the first pretty well, but etch control is a matter of both temperature and circulation. And that still leaves tin plating, hole drilling (connector strength), solder mask and legend mask tasks. There are also hazmat considerations.

We'll make our boards for simple stuff, but leave the fine and complex to the pros. <<<)))
 
Looking at those types of boards there trace and space will be 3mil/3mil minimum. You can achieve those types of features if you really wanted to if you start with a lower base CU wieght. There is laminate out there that has a base CU wieght of (9um) (1/4 oz). If you use a photo resist there are houses out there that will generate art work for you if you can not achive those goals with a printing method. 1 thing you need to consider when you are looking into those types of boards like the Graphics card is that there are multiple layers. Just wanted to throw that out there for you.
 
I you want a board house to make the boards you should look at what they can do for the money. 6 mil traces are cheeper than 3mil traces. 10mil traces are not cheeper tham 6mil. (at the board houses I use)
 
How could a 10mil trace cost more than a 6mil trace? That does not sound right to me. cost is based on how complex a design you have and layer count and type of material you call out. On another note: If you would like to control the etching process try using a spray bottle. If you have the time I think this process would benifit you.
 
The mass of the copper used taisen. They recovered etched copper, bigger traces leave more copper on the board they can't recover, there is a breakeven between the costs of complexity and the value of the raw materials involved, apparently in this case the 6 to 10mil transfer is the breakeven.
 
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What I was trying to say, is that any size down to 6 mil is the same price. Then the price goes up with smaller traces.

Also .5oz copper can have thin traces. 1oz has thicker traces. 2oz the larger traces. I think the 2oz copper needs to etch much longer.
 
Hey Scea
The amount of CU that is removed and left does not effect the cost of the PCB. If I had a trace that was 10mil and the spacing was 2mil the cost would probably higher than the 3mil trace and space. I am just saying there is more factors than just trace size. You probably know this already.
T
 
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