With Instructables you can share what you make with the world and tap into an ever-growing community of creative experts.
This is a one-off process to produce one printed circuit board by removing unwanted copper by electrolysis in a saltwater solution.I shall illustrate ...
From the diagram, the side that plugs into the breadboard has 13 connections, and the holes in the bb are spaced 0.1 inch apart. So we need at least 1...
Hold your ruler or straightedge firmly down on the board. Hold a knife lightly and draw across the line many times. After some time, there will be a ...
Now, you can take the ruler away and with a little more pressure on the knife, go over the line a few more times. It will be guided by the cut, and yo...
Now you need a groove on the other side of the laminate, too. You will have a board with grooves on both the sides, and bending it with the fingers w...
This is the plain side of the laminate, with that deep groove.
If you look at the edge, you will see that the two grooves on the top and bottom of the sheet has made it weak at the line and it will break easily.
So we have cut the laminate to about one and a half inches. It is actually a bit more than that, and that is for allowances in finishing. It will nee...
Now we have to decide how large the board has to be on the other dimension. We need the two connectors, the PIC, the crystal, and some capacitors and...
Remove rough edges of the board using a sandpaper (Or go out and rub it on a level rough cement surface). Clean the copper surface using an abrasive ...
I have cleaned about two inches of the board. The board will be cut to size after etching, as the extra length serves as a handle to hold the board. ...
Now you paint the area with some etch resist. It can be any paint - it has to hold together under water, that's all. Permanent marker comes in an eas...
Now, you have to mark the position of the leads of the major components. It is best to use the actual component itself as the template. I have clampe...
After you have marked the positions of the ic pads, and removed the ic, there will invariably be a few spots where the resist has rubbed off. Repair ...
Once you have completed the pad pattern for the main component, you can draw in the rest of the connections. I used a bit of veroboard as template fo...
Any changes can be made to the layout at this stage. Just paint over the scratches, and you have a fresh canvas to practise your art. Now I decided ...
You see here my etching tank (stands a while in reverence, head uncovered).It is plastic, transparent, and has parallel sides, and is large enough to ...
It is useful to have a light shining on the other side of the board, as the light shining through the etched portion will allow you to see the progres...
In fact, the board proved too big for my regular tank so I used a plastic bag just large enough to hold the board as the etching tank. This had the a...
To etch the board, you make up a saturated solution of salt water, make the board positive and immerse it into the solution together with a negative e...
You see here the board after etching and cleaning. The paint can prove somewhat difficult to remove. You will need to use an appropriate solvent for t...
After the traces are cut apart it is essential to test that there are no connections between adjacent areas. You may use a 12V lamp connected to the ...
Holes have been drilled to accommodate the sockets for the crystal and the programming interface.
The figure shows two views of a turned pin integrated circuit socket. It is made of pins, machined from bar stock, molded into plastic. We need to li...
Then you cut their tails off and insert them into the holes and solder. You have a compact socket, with the PCB itself being part of the assembly. I ...
The components have been soldered on to the board: The seven pins making up crystal and programming sockets. Two capacitors around the crystal A 10...
The ic is mounted last of all, in order to minimise chances of damage to it. It is first placed in proper position and one corner pin heated with the...
The board is now complete.It is compared with the original plan. I have made a few changes, mainly because it was simpler to route the traces that way...
Remove these ads by
Signing Up
Not NiceInappropriateSpam61,918 views
89 favorites
Posted:
Dec 5, 2006
License:
Public Domain
PDF Downloads
As a Pro member, you will gain access to download any Instructable in the PDF format.
You also have the ability to customize your PDF download.
Visit Our Store »
Go Pro Today »