what kind of printer is the best?

[aishiqi]

i want to make pcb ,but i don't which printer fit it as well cheap.how about HP6L?and HP1000? and others? thanks for help!

 

[maxx]

I think that, most important is the quality of toner than the printer .

 

[Sceadwian]

You'll have trouble finding a cheap printer that has high quality toner. If you're worried about the quality of the toner then simply go to a local copy store and have them print it on their 10,000 dollar professional laser printers.

 

[Joe G]

I have a samsung ML series , cost about 70$us and been very pleased w/ it. made pcbs for MAXIM 10uMAX componants, jfi

 

[Mosaic]

I got this one in december...it works fine!
Amazon.com: HP LaserJet Pro P1102w Printer (CE657A#BGJ): Electronics

 

[Boncuk]

You'll have trouble finding a cheap printer that has high quality toner. If you're worried about the quality of the toner then simply go to a local copy store and have them print it on their 10,000 dollar professional laser printers.

A 10,000 dollar printer could as well be a Gerber photo plotter.

Gerber plots are deep black on a clear surface with no fuzzy edges.

Boncuk

 

[Boncuk]

I used an Epson EQL5700 some years ago.

It made deep dark prints with a heavy layer of toner if the "toner save" modus was disabled.

It also had a software feature to determine the thickness of the toner.

Printing a transparency there is no light supposed to pass through the black portions of the print.

Trying to compensate by using double mounted transparencies works only with small boards. With larger size boards (160X100mm) both prints are not scaled 100% and don't match.

If you are looking for an accurate print try to find a print shop where they make advertising stuff. Take along your Eagle installation file and a six-pack of beer.

May be you get some help.

Boncuk

 

[SABorn]

Was it direct toner transfer of photo resist you were looking to use to make your boards?

If it is photo resist than just about any printer will work ok.

I have for many years used just plain white paper to print my artwork onto, and find it far better than transparencies.

The paper allows more ink or toner to be applied than the transparencies will.

There is one trick i use and it often causes some debate, but until you try it you will not find the benefits in the technique.

The trick is to wipe cooking oil over the paper after printing the ink artwork, i use a tissue and work the oil into the paper, then wipe any excess off with a dry tissue, this makes the paper translucent and the ink or toner will not be effected by the oil.

The paper extends the exposure time by about 10% compared to transparencies but that is a non issue compared to the results gained and the ability to use any printer including bubble jet printers.

I can not remember the last time i had a failed exposure on a PCB as it is so rare using this method, and i do 100's of boards a year.

Just check for any oil smudges on the board before developing and remove any smudges with a soft dry tissue.

I think once anyone tries this method you will never go back to transparencies again.

Should anyone be interested i done an article on making PCB's some years back and it can be found here.

https://www.thebackshed.com/Windmill/articles/MakingPrintedCircuitBoards.asp


Pete.

 

[SODA]

Pete,
To say the least, this was the best tutorial about making pcb's ever. Wow it's gr8 stuff. I've saved everything and going to read it tomorrow.
Just one thing, What is the exposure time you usually allow and what brand of photo resist do you use
Thanks very much

 

[SODA]

I used an Epson EQL5700 some years ago.

It made deep dark prints with a heavy layer of toner if the "toner save" modus was disabled.

It also had a software feature to determine the thickness of the toner.

Printing a transparency there is no light supposed to pass through the black portions of the print.

Trying to compensate by using double mounted transparencies works only with small boards. With larger size boards (160X100mm) both prints are not scaled 100% and don't match.

If you are looking for an accurate print try to find a print shop where they make advertising stuff. Take along your Eagle installation file and a six-pack of beer.

May be you get some help.

Boncuk

Double transparencies can work but you have to change the printer settings to "letter"

 

[Sceadwian]

When I start making circuit boards I think I'm leaning towards photo resist boards and laser printed transparencies and an exposure box. Especially considering scaling using large Fresnel lenses is possible. Although toner transfer methods seem quiet nice if you can work it out, the quality you can get out of a well made exposure box is worlds apart. It does require a bit more space though and careful avoidance of light pollution.

 

[SABorn]

Soda,

Thanks for the kind remarks,

I now use the Kinsten brand board and find it excellent, perfect results every time.

My old bubble jet UV scanned chugs along at about 300 mm per minute (real slow) and it dose 10 passes, thats 5 up and 5 back.
As i change the distance of travel to suit the board size being exposed, it varies in exposure time depending on how far the leds need to travel in each pass.

As i just hit the start button and walk away it completes its passes and switches off, so the time dont really matter to me, as there is always something else to be doing in the mean time while exposure is being done.

As you can see in the photos the plain white paper and oil works very well and i would not use transparencies ever again. (and a hell of a lot cheaper)

There is a thread here that i posted some information in that shows how to make a UV led scanner out of an old bubble jet printer.
You will need to search through the thread as its done in stages, page 2 has some more photos and circuit board design etc.

https://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2303&PN=1&TPN=1

Pete.