Watched this again today after talking to chatgpt about photo emulsion solder stencil making. This video is great. Among the best electronics tutorials on this platform. Thanks again!
Amazing. The acid part was the most amazing part. I never thought that it would eat through the metal like that, and do it so perfectly. I am blown away by that. First thing I am going to do is go back and watch this video a few more times. Subscribed.
Thanks for this. It took me two attempts, but the second attempt came out perfect. However I used laminated dry resist film, not vinyl. Lessons learned: use 0000 wire wool to sand off the resin from the coke can, acetone didn't work well for me. Be careful when sanding, as kinking the metal creates a crease that you can never get out and makes the stencil useless. Make sure metal is complely dry before laminating on the photoresist film (one website recommends having it wet, but the water turns to steam in the laminator and makes bubbles). Pause at regular intervals during etching to check under magnification, you don't want to over-etch.
Really a very nice technique ! I just made my first stencil and the quality is really on top ! For information, having no vinyl, I did with a standard sheet of paper, the result is really good too. Thanks again !
THANK YOU for posting this FANTASTIC video! I have been searching for an inexpensive way to make SMT stencils, and this is by far the best method i found yet. Thank you! :)
Dayumn Son!!!!!!! Samy Kamkar commented on this video!!! It means this method surely works. Going to try it right away without giving a second thought!! Cool video! and you are the coolest person Samy Kamkar!!!
After unsuccessfully looking for a can with easily removable paint I found one in Asian food store. Thailand-made fruit juice comes in a bare can covered in plastic film like heatshrink. No chemicals necessary, just peel off the label :-). The inside is still in place but this is going to be a "back side" anyway. Juice is pretty good, too, and price is like US$1 per 500 ml can. Highly recommended.
Jake Heuft you don't order/build a stencil to solder a single prototype. But I just produced a small batch of my current project and it was really helpful! Everything else is pretty time consuming.
Michael Fitzmayer That's what job shops are for. Entrepreneurs or inventors can not utilize this. If you start to hit the boundary where this is useful to you, you need to abstract the business and find specialization. Either someone that has these skills or a third party.
Most often than not I now shrink by 8.5mil on all sides, even on some of the smallest pads (0.5mm pitch). This gives the best results when applying the paste and also best looking SMT stencil.
Success finally! Your mixture ratio of 1 part acid, 3 parts peroxide is right, the problem was I had 10% muriatic acid (cheap cleaning brand and I noticed all other brands where around 25%). So I guess my mixture was about 1 part acid 6 parts peroxide before. I would have thought that with more acid the reaction would be greater but it's not so, this time with a 1:3 ratio it was much slower but it etched really evenly, the stencil looks great. Now to try with solder paste. Thanks for the info!
Neat idea. Ive been collecting information to try smd. Ill give this a try when I'm ready. Still trying to decide on how to convert a toaster oven. Seems to be so many ways.
To give you enough buffer when you etch. Also you want the etched holes smaller than the actual pads to avoid too much solder reflow and excess flux residue.
@@brad8122 I am guessing you could but you have to make a very good transfer, and then be very careful with the etching. However at how cheap stencils are these days I would not try that, at this point in time it's not worth the hassle and mess. Unless you want to experiment. Still back then in 2013 it was an attractive option for cheap (and quick!) stencils at home with very usable fine pitch.
By the way, the smallest parts where MSOP-10's and there are a couple of 20 pin and 24 pin QFN's, really small footprints that came out looking really good.
This limits the amount of solder paste that will be applied to the pad, and gives tolerance in board/stencil offset. It will also account for undercutting of the toner mask when etching. Using 7.5mil probably came from experience.
Ok I that makes sense. So, I've tried this a couple times now and I can't seem to get the toner transfer to work. I can only transfer about half of the toner to the can. I've repeated the same process and even tried leaving the iron on for the 30/30 seconds to a couple minutes with no luck. Do you have any updated process tips for this?
Thank you Felix. Worked perfectly. I just bought a Cameo 3 Silhouette. I'm quite sure it will cut out the freaking stencil. This TH-cam is 2013... we are in 2017. any tough? please? with cherry on top.
I would try a slower reaction, mine takes about 10-12min, feels just right, not to slow, not too violently fast. The solution is 1 part acid, 3 parts peroxide, but still using the same ORIGINAL mix since January this year. I kept adding a little copper wire when it got dull and that rejuvenated it right up.
Toaster ovens are cheap, but you can try the skillet method from Sparkfun, I haven't but lots of people say that works well. With the toaster I can bake more boards at 1 time.
Sometimes I just shrink in one dimension only (solder paste will reflow but what you really want is LESS solder paste). Sometimes after shrinking everything by a fixed amount I produce the PNG and then use the eraser to make the pads shorter on very small packages or on uUSB connectors. That's because too much solder paste will cause bridges. It's a lot of trial and error but after a while you start to get the feel of how much and which way to shrink pads.
Hey Felix - I'm having a lot of trouble removing the epoxy and paint from the outside of the can. I even tried used a hot-air gun set at the highest temperature to try to break the bonds between the paint and the aluminum, but to no avail. I was able to get some of the paint off but hardly any of the epoxy, and that was with a good hour to an hour and a half of elbow greases. Any suggestions?
so this is photo etch? This I understand. I also understand soldering circuit boards. What I don't get is - in this application, what are you doing with the end product? Do you have pre-made files?
A possible optimisation: If you leave the paint/epoxy on the reverse, you might not need to tape the reverse side, which may mean that you do not damage the stencil removing the tape. Test to see by taking one of the offcuts and putting it in the etchant. If it only reacts on the edges, the epoxy makes a good resist. Maybe there is a way to do a quick-and-dirty stencil by just scratching off parts of the epoxy!
I have tried a half dozen times using ferric chloride on copper, aluminum and brass... and have not made a single stencil yet. it starts to work but I have not had it go all the way though, I have even left it in the solution for hours in direct sunlight for heat and all it did was bubble off the mask leaving a mess.
Hello Felix. Could you explain a bit more why you shrinked the pads? I'm ready to try your method but I'm using very small pitch IC's and when I shrink the pads 0.0075 some almost disappear. Is this required? Is there a way to calculate this maybe by percentage? Thanks!
Acetone will dissolve epoxy, get some from HomeDepot. Rubbing with a paper towel you should start seeing the metail within 1 minute or less. Some cans are harder, so try a different type of can. I found the heating does work in some cases and makes the epoxy easier to remove. I wouldn't worry about the paint so much. Just get the epoxy off without scratching the metal so you can transfer the toner. Keep trying, it will work, I've made many many stencils with this method.
Great video, the one thing no-one ever seems to mention, I take it you cover the back of the metal, so the acid does not eat that. What do you use, the same as the front?
I love this video! brilliant idea and very well executed. I plan on using a laser cutter to just make the stencil without the toner. Do you know if this type of aluminum is safe for laser cutters?
Thanks for your reply. I tried using 600dpi for 0.1mm pitch and it was not clean enough and real 1200dpi printers are hard to find, that's why I asked.
Also, the iron is set to the hottest position (I wait till its heated up and then place it on top of the sticky note stack for ~30secs, then apply pressure and movement gently not to jerk the vinyl underneath ... then rapidly put the stencil in cold water. Then the paper/vinyl should come off easily revealing a perfect transfer.
I can not catch this moment - clear tape is covered on the whole space excluding black zone? But what about back side of pads - it must be covered also?
I was wondering initially whether this method is suitable for spray lettering/labeling stencils but I don't think so. All the rectangles of your project turned rounded.
hi, for pcb boards many people use the less dangerous Na2S2O8 method instead of muriatic acid & hydrogen peroxide solution... dou you think that would work with a coke can too?
I tried this out today and it worked quite well. I think I over immersed at the first attempt and the solution ate most of the board. The second attempt was quite a success.The only difference is I did not have access to the vinyl paper and I used photopaper instead. Yes it took sometime to scrub it off after applying it to the metal. Also the coating inside the can did not come off with Acetone. Hence I had to scrub it with a kitchen scrubber. Thankfully the toner did stick to the metal though. Any ideas on how I can safely dispose the etching solution?
Thanks Felix. One more question. What makes the reaction faster? More acid or more peroxide? I made the first test but about halfway through I started to loose the edges of the pads, some disappeared before the etching could go all the way through. This took about 4 minutes so I was thinking maybe a faster reacting solution might help? The real solution would be to use toner on both sides but I dont think I would be able to align them! Would you try a faster reaction or slower reaction?
Sorry I am no english and I can't understand the name of the chemical product you use to dissolve the aluminum: " peroxide ...." I just understand you said it possible to have it in a local pharmacy...
Depends what thickness and if it creases easy. The can aluminum is perfect due to its properties. I laser etch stencils today, much easier and less effort, see my video on that.
@@Shanoo5142 Muriatic Acid is just a common name for Hydrochloric Acid. HCl is usually sold for adjusting the PH balance of swimming pools, or for cleaning concrete. It is also the first ingredient used in many many chemicals made in a chemistry lab. It's probably the most common acid available commercially around the world. One other enchant combo I've seen someone mention, and saved, but haven't tried myself is as follows: 150ml hydrogen peroxide 20g "lemon acid" (available in supermarket) 5g salt That's exactly what was described in a comment on another channel that I came across and took a screenshot of, but again, I haven't actually tried it. That receipe was intended for etching circuit boards but so is the Hydrocloric Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide shown here, (which is what I currently use to etch my boards too). -Jake
Wow! So great! There is just two things I dont get. 1st. When you print the patern on cheap transfer, on which side do you print it so that you get to have the very toner printed on aluminum? 2nd. When you pour it into the chemical, do the aluminum that the toner did not cover dissolves itself? I don't get it fully -- how does it work? I'm looking for a way to find a micro-number/alphabet template. Thank you!
Mine is 1200 I think and I see no real difference between printing at 600 or 1200dpi. Make sure it's a laser printer and it's got plenty of toner. Also use the darkest toner setting available in windows.
@@FelixRusu Thanks for your prompt reply. It is surprising for me that acid do not etch the reverse side. Probably etching need good access of fresh acid. :-)
Your city/county should have a hazardous materials center or day when they collect stuff like that. FWIW ... I'm still on the first batch of acid solution for etching stencils, I never had to throw it away, still works just as fast, just added a bit of acid and peroxide on two occasions.
This is a separate process from the etching of the board itself but you could etch the board with any method then create an smd stencil for any surface mount device or integrated circuits you have on the board... this is a harder process than the etching itself in my experience.
I think you missed my point. I was asking if dryfilm etch resist would work as a mask/adhear to the aluminum... if anyone has tried it with uv photo sensitive etch resist mask film. second...its not really a separate process for someone who started making boards with 2 sided designs. difference is I skipped tonner transfer because my research lead me to the conclusion it was inferior over all. regardless of etch mask method though...the only difference is sealing the z plane edges of the rectangle...I made cupric chloride for etching which required hcl and hydrogen peroxide plus copper to create. I wont be using my cupric bath but i will be using most of what i needed to create it. Compared to prep of the original etchant and first pcb i etched this requires one less ingredient when i realized i wanted to be able to prototype pcbs at home I researched a lot before acting. It lead me to the conclusion that if you want reliable/repeatable sub 10mil features and aligned double sided boards then UV was the only way to go...unless you are into self abuse. Final straw was I lacked a laser printer and couldnt find an up to date reliable list of printers with solid/dense enough toner output for low cost. I did find a group of people who were sharing info on inkjet models that can be modified to print pigment ink on pcbs directly. As i needed a board fast i then found an ink jet compatible transparency rather than modifying the printer but i knew if it could print directly and the ink survived it would also be dark enough to block the uv for the traditional time tested industry standard method i adopted. im not a fan boy. i do think if you are going to do only a few single sided boards, a few times a year, with dip sized smt packages and 1206 passives then toner transfer is probably a fast way to do that...if you already have a laser printer and or have a second one at work to try out.
Oh, sorry, what a mistake, 0.5mm it was - molex 52991-0508. The printer gave out choppy output - odd pixels were offset a bit. Looks like I'll have to try again with a different printer?
HI FELIX, great tutorial, I will try your method. I was thinking of using a 3.4 mil copper sheet and do the toner transfer and etching with Ferric Chloride as I usually do with PCB, but the "free" price point of aluminum cans definitively out beats the price of the copper sheet. I have a question. When you go to the pharmacy, the hydrogen peroxide they sell is in a 3% solution with water; I guess we have to use pure 100% H2O2???? Where can we get it? At the pharmacy store they sell this thing in solution. Where do we get it pure? Thanks!!!
Not sure how you can go cheaper than toner and almost-free vinyl. I can have a stencil done in 20-30minutes from Eagle to finished product. I print the outline of the gerber on the paper, then cover that area with vinyl, re-print with the actual gerber, minimal toner and vinyl amount used.
Thanks for your comment, I no longer use this method and BTW i tried copper initially and did not work well. I now use a laser cutter to etch stencils from mylar (see my video on that), much cleaner and faster than this chemical method. For production I order stainless steel stencils.
Excellent idea, everything needed is explained in short. Quality video and narration. Not even a second wasted. Thanks for sharing!!.
Watched this again today after talking to chatgpt about photo emulsion solder stencil making. This video is great. Among the best electronics tutorials on this platform. Thanks again!
Excellent job Felix, in so many levels, very entrepreneurial and ingenious. Wish you continued success.
Amazing. The acid part was the most amazing part. I never thought that it would eat through the metal like that, and do it so perfectly. I am blown away by that. First thing I am going to do is go back and watch this video a few more times. Subscribed.
Thanks for this. It took me two attempts, but the second attempt came out perfect. However I used laminated dry resist film, not vinyl. Lessons learned: use 0000 wire wool to sand off the resin from the coke can, acetone didn't work well for me. Be careful when sanding, as kinking the metal creates a crease that you can never get out and makes the stencil useless. Make sure metal is complely dry before laminating on the photoresist film (one website recommends having it wet, but the water turns to steam in the laminator and makes bubbles). Pause at regular intervals during etching to check under magnification, you don't want to over-etch.
Very VERY cool technique! I never would have thought it would be this easy to make DIY stencils!
Very cool - this is the other half of my puzzle for homebrew PCBs. Thank you Felix.
Great, glad it worked out!
It take patience and perseverence, but when it works it feels so cool to make your own HI-Q stencils
Really a very nice technique !
I just made my first stencil and the quality is really on top !
For information, having no vinyl, I did with a standard sheet of paper, the result is really good too.
Thanks again !
From a laser printer? Did you have to stop the print before the laser printer does the heat roller to solidify the toner?
THANK YOU for posting this FANTASTIC video! I have been searching for an inexpensive way to make SMT stencils, and this is by far the best method i found yet. Thank you! :)
Great vid, thanks!
Dayumn Son!!!!!!! Samy Kamkar commented on this video!!! It means this method surely works. Going to try it right away without giving a second thought!! Cool video! and you are the coolest person Samy Kamkar!!!
I have watched two videos from you and I loved them. They are very clever and helpful.
THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!!
After unsuccessfully looking for a can with easily removable paint I found one in Asian food store. Thailand-made fruit juice comes in a bare can covered in plastic film like heatshrink. No chemicals necessary, just peel off the label :-). The inside is still in place but this is going to be a "back side" anyway.
Juice is pretty good, too, and price is like US$1 per 500 ml can. Highly recommended.
That's ingenious.
With a fine tipped applicator and good solder paste stencils aren't needed really.
Jake Heuft you don't order/build a stencil to solder a single prototype. But I just produced a small batch of my current project and it was really helpful! Everything else is pretty time consuming.
I used it, good effect and useful
Michael Fitzmayer That's what job shops are for. Entrepreneurs or inventors can not utilize this. If you start to hit the boundary where this is useful to you, you need to abstract the business and find specialization.
Either someone that has these skills or a third party.
Most often than not I now shrink by 8.5mil on all sides, even on some of the smallest pads (0.5mm pitch). This gives the best results when applying the paste and also best looking SMT stencil.
Awesome idea! I frequently thought about doing something similar, but never thought about using an aluminum can!
Success finally! Your mixture ratio of 1 part acid, 3 parts peroxide is right, the problem was I had 10% muriatic acid (cheap cleaning brand and I noticed all other brands where around 25%). So I guess my mixture was about 1 part acid 6 parts peroxide before. I would have thought that with more acid the reaction would be greater but it's not so, this time with a 1:3 ratio it was much slower but it etched really evenly, the stencil looks great. Now to try with solder paste.
Thanks for the info!
YES! Etching is the way to go for stencils, even for very fine pitches - it will do the job. Nice video, Thanks!
love your toner transfer method
Neat idea. Ive been collecting information to try smd. Ill give this a try when I'm ready. Still trying to decide on how to convert a toaster oven. Seems to be so many ways.
To give you enough buffer when you etch. Also you want the etched holes smaller than the actual pads to avoid too much solder reflow and excess flux residue.
Can I make .4mm diameter stencil with 0.8mm spacing between the disk centres with this method? For ddr3-2 sodimm type
@@brad8122 I am guessing you could but you have to make a very good transfer, and then be very careful with the etching.
However at how cheap stencils are these days I would not try that, at this point in time it's not worth the hassle and mess. Unless you want to experiment. Still back then in 2013 it was an attractive option for cheap (and quick!) stencils at home with very usable fine pitch.
Very well filmed narrated and interesting video keep up the good work
By the way, the smallest parts where MSOP-10's and there are a couple of 20 pin and 24 pin QFN's, really small footprints that came out looking really good.
This limits the amount of solder paste that will be applied to the pad, and gives tolerance in board/stencil offset. It will also account for undercutting of the toner mask when etching.
Using 7.5mil probably came from experience.
Saw now. Nicely done. Thanks!
Great idea, hope to test it soon.
OMG impressive job!! That looks amazing, will try it at home for sure
Very impressive. Thanks for sharing your technique.
You are a complete pro. Thanks for showing us noobs how it's done.
Outstanding! I'm going to have to give this a shot.
It was like +20steps to print the top paste layer.
Recommend to go with DipTrace,
only 3steps: select export, set any shrink, preview and then print.
Ok I that makes sense. So, I've tried this a couple times now and I can't seem to get the toner transfer to work. I can only transfer about half of the toner to the can. I've repeated the same process and even tried leaving the iron on for the 30/30 seconds to a couple minutes with no luck. Do you have any updated process tips for this?
Thank you Felix. Worked perfectly. I just bought a Cameo 3 Silhouette. I'm quite sure it will cut out the freaking stencil. This TH-cam is 2013... we are in 2017. any tough? please? with cherry on top.
I would try a slower reaction, mine takes about 10-12min, feels just right, not to slow, not too violently fast. The solution is 1 part acid, 3 parts peroxide, but still using the same ORIGINAL mix since January this year. I kept adding a little copper wire when it got dull and that rejuvenated it right up.
Toaster ovens are cheap, but you can try the skillet method from Sparkfun, I haven't but lots of people say that works well. With the toaster I can bake more boards at 1 time.
Sometimes I just shrink in one dimension only (solder paste will reflow but what you really want is LESS solder paste). Sometimes after shrinking everything by a fixed amount I produce the PNG and then use the eraser to make the pads shorter on very small packages or on uUSB connectors. That's because too much solder paste will cause bridges. It's a lot of trial and error but after a while you start to get the feel of how much and which way to shrink pads.
Excellent! I will be trying this next week, thank you very much.
Alright. I'll try it this weekend. Thank you for the quick help!
Did your stencil work?
Hey Felix - I'm having a lot of trouble removing the epoxy and paint from the outside of the can. I even tried used a hot-air gun set at the highest temperature to try to break the bonds between the paint and the aluminum, but to no avail. I was able to get some of the paint off but hardly any of the epoxy, and that was with a good hour to an hour and a half of elbow greases. Any suggestions?
so this is photo etch? This I understand. I also understand soldering circuit boards. What I don't get is - in this application, what are you doing with the end product? Do you have pre-made files?
This is such a good idea. Thank you for this.
A possible optimisation: If you leave the paint/epoxy on the reverse, you might not need to tape the reverse side, which may mean that you do not damage the stencil removing the tape. Test to see by taking one of the offcuts and putting it in the etchant. If it only reacts on the edges, the epoxy makes a good resist.
Maybe there is a way to do a quick-and-dirty stencil by just scratching off parts of the epoxy!
Really? Can I make .4mm stencil with 0.8mm spacing between the disk centres with this method? For ddr3-2 sodimm type
I have tried a half dozen times using ferric chloride on copper, aluminum and brass... and have not made a single stencil yet. it starts to work but I have not had it go all the way though, I have even left it in the solution for hours in direct sunlight for heat and all it did was bubble off the mask leaving a mess.
very nice procedure!
Awesome video. Great idea! I can't wait to try this.
Hello Felix. Could you explain a bit more why you shrinked the pads? I'm ready to try your method but I'm using very small pitch IC's and when I shrink the pads 0.0075 some almost disappear. Is this required? Is there a way to calculate this maybe by percentage?
Thanks!
Nice video. Can't wait to try this as stencil's are generally expensive.
Acetone will dissolve epoxy, get some from HomeDepot. Rubbing with a paper towel you should start seeing the metail within 1 minute or less. Some cans are harder, so try a different type of can. I found the heating does work in some cases and makes the epoxy easier to remove. I wouldn't worry about the paint so much. Just get the epoxy off without scratching the metal so you can transfer the toner. Keep trying, it will work, I've made many many stencils with this method.
Great, I will try this soon.
great job but what did u use for etching?
Absolutely brilliant.
very good and simple tutorial.
Great video, the one thing no-one ever seems to mention, I take it you cover the back of the metal, so the acid does not eat that. What do you use, the same as the front?
Yes, just clear tape
I love this video! brilliant idea and very well executed. I plan on using a laser cutter to just make the stencil without the toner. Do you know if this type of aluminum is safe for laser cutters?
Thanks for your reply. I tried using 600dpi for 0.1mm pitch and it was not clean enough and real 1200dpi printers are hard to find, that's why I asked.
On a serious note, what's the best way to safely dispose of the aluminum acetate type stuff left over?
Also, the iron is set to the hottest position (I wait till its heated up and then place it on top of the sticky note stack for ~30secs, then apply pressure and movement gently not to jerk the vinyl underneath ... then rapidly put the stencil in cold water. Then the paper/vinyl should come off easily revealing a perfect transfer.
so simple why am I not already using this method. Thanks for sharing.
Great info. Thank you VERY much for such a great presentation.
I can not catch this moment - clear tape is covered on the whole space excluding black zone? But what about back side of pads - it must be covered also?
you're a genius!! INGREDIBLE!! incredible, I have to do it myself!
Why do you shrink your pads by -7.5 mil using the swell option?
I was wondering initially whether this method is suitable for spray lettering/labeling stencils but I don't think so. All the rectangles of your project turned rounded.
Thank you very much. I really loved this tutorial
So really I just need to focus on getting the interior epoxy off? I will try a different soda can. I was using Home Depot acetone though.
Great method! Thanks!
very well explained and nicely executed thanks for sharing, subscribed.
hello i did not understand the masking thing after 4:27
what is the liquid you put your board in?
and what does it exactly do?
Nice trick, I appreciate your work.
Hi. what is the name of the alcohol removing the metal sheet.
VERY well done. Great ideas, well presented - Thanks!
hi,
for pcb boards many people use the less dangerous Na2S2O8 method instead of muriatic acid & hydrogen peroxide solution... dou you think that would work with a coke can too?
Try it!
thank you very much .. perfect description and small useful video
Awesome, thank you very much. I will give it a try.
pure awesome, gonna try this out!
I tried this out today and it worked quite well. I think I over immersed at the first attempt and the solution ate most of the board. The second attempt was quite a success.The only difference is I did not have access to the vinyl paper and I used photopaper instead. Yes it took sometime to scrub it off after applying it to the metal. Also the coating inside the can did not come off with Acetone. Hence I had to scrub it with a kitchen scrubber. Thankfully the toner did stick to the metal though. Any ideas on how I can safely dispose the etching solution?
Will this work for solder paste? Don't know what 'sodder' is.
Thanks Felix. One more question. What makes the reaction faster? More acid or more peroxide? I made the first test but about halfway through I started to loose the edges of the pads, some disappeared before the etching could go all the way through.
This took about 4 minutes so I was thinking maybe a faster reacting solution might help?
The real solution would be to use toner on both sides but I dont think I would be able to align them!
Would you try a faster reaction or slower reaction?
Hi. Thi is very useful video indeed. The idea itself is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you
Could you write the requirements (with link) in description ?
What printer do you use?
Sorry I am no english and I can't understand the name of the chemical product you use to dissolve the aluminum: " peroxide ...." I just understand you said it possible to have it in a local pharmacy...
Hydrogen Peroxide and hydrocloric acid : H2O2 + HCL (3:1)
Felix Rusu thank you very much, you're video is fantastic.
Felix Rusu terima kasih ...
@@FelixRusu i do not think you can get 100% H2O2 in your local store
@@wormball Yes I can, where I live.
This is awesome! And just when I was looking for something inexpensive. What alternatives are there for the adhesive vinyl?
Haven't found anything better. Vinyl is perfect
Yes, awesome! Thanks for this tutorial!!!
Depends what thickness and if it creases easy. The can aluminum is perfect due to its properties.
I laser etch stencils today, much easier and less effort, see my video on that.
What other etching solution can we use.
@@Shanoo5142
Muriatic Acid is just a common name for Hydrochloric Acid. HCl is usually sold for adjusting the PH balance of swimming pools, or for cleaning concrete. It is also the first ingredient used in many many chemicals made in a chemistry lab. It's probably the most common acid available commercially around the world.
One other enchant combo I've seen someone mention, and saved, but haven't tried myself is as follows:
150ml hydrogen peroxide
20g "lemon acid" (available in supermarket)
5g salt
That's exactly what was described in a comment on another channel that I came across and took a screenshot of, but again, I haven't actually tried it. That receipe was intended for etching circuit boards but so is the Hydrocloric Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide shown here, (which is what I currently use to etch my boards too).
-Jake
Can we etch it using ferric chloride?
Wow! So great! There is just two things I dont get.
1st. When you print the patern on cheap transfer, on which side do you print it so that you get to have the very toner printed on aluminum?
2nd. When you pour it into the chemical, do the aluminum that the toner did not cover dissolves itself?
I don't get it fully -- how does it work?
I'm looking for a way to find a micro-number/alphabet template.
Thank you!
Please watch again carefully - the details are there.
3:33 What "cheap shelving vinyl" are you using?
Mine is 1200 I think and I see no real difference between printing at 600 or 1200dpi. Make sure it's a laser printer and it's got plenty of toner. Also use the darkest toner setting available in windows.
don't you need to cover the back of board as well to prevent the etchant from eating away the surface?
No, that side is painted/coated.
Hi, you do not cover reverse side from etching?
No, it's not needed.
@@FelixRusu Thanks for your prompt reply. It is surprising for me that acid do not etch the reverse side. Probably etching need good access of fresh acid. :-)
Your city/county should have a hazardous materials center or day when they collect stuff like that. FWIW ... I'm still on the first batch of acid solution for etching stencils, I never had to throw it away, still works just as fast, just added a bit of acid and peroxide on two occasions.
will this work with photo resist process?
This is a separate process from the etching of the board itself but you could etch the board with any method then create an smd stencil for any surface mount device or integrated circuits you have on the board... this is a harder process than the etching itself in my experience.
I think you missed my point. I was asking if dryfilm etch resist would work as a mask/adhear to the aluminum... if anyone has tried it with uv photo sensitive etch resist mask film.
second...its not really a separate process for someone who started making boards with 2 sided designs. difference is I skipped tonner transfer because my research lead me to the conclusion it was inferior over all. regardless of etch mask method though...the only difference is sealing the z plane edges of the rectangle...I made cupric chloride for etching which required hcl and hydrogen peroxide plus copper to create. I wont be using my cupric bath but i will be using most of what i needed to create it. Compared to prep of the original etchant and first pcb i etched this requires one less ingredient
when i realized i wanted to be able to prototype pcbs at home I researched a lot before acting. It lead me to the conclusion that if you want reliable/repeatable sub 10mil features and aligned double sided boards then UV was the only way to go...unless you are into self abuse. Final straw was I lacked a laser printer and couldnt find an up to date reliable list of printers with solid/dense enough toner output for low cost. I did find a group of people who were sharing info on inkjet models that can be modified to print pigment ink on pcbs directly. As i needed a board fast i then found an ink jet compatible transparency rather than modifying the printer but i knew if it could print directly and the ink survived it would also be dark enough to block the uv for the traditional time tested industry standard method i adopted.
im not a fan boy. i do think if you are going to do only a few single sided boards, a few times a year, with dip sized smt packages and 1206 passives then toner transfer is probably a fast way to do that...if you already have a laser printer and or have a second one at work to try out.
Oh, sorry, what a mistake, 0.5mm it was - molex 52991-0508. The printer gave out choppy output - odd pixels were offset a bit. Looks like I'll have to try again with a different printer?
HI FELIX, great tutorial, I will try your method. I was thinking of using a 3.4 mil copper sheet and do the toner transfer and etching with Ferric Chloride as I usually do with PCB, but the "free" price point of aluminum cans definitively out beats the price of the copper sheet. I have a question. When you go to the pharmacy, the hydrogen peroxide they sell is in a 3% solution with water; I guess we have to use pure 100% H2O2???? Where can we get it? At the pharmacy store they sell this thing in solution. Where do we get it pure? Thanks!!!
Pharmacy H2O2 is good enough :)
Great video
Not sure how you can go cheaper than toner and almost-free vinyl. I can have a stencil done in 20-30minutes from Eagle to finished product. I print the outline of the gerber on the paper, then cover that area with vinyl, re-print with the actual gerber, minimal toner and vinyl amount used.
Can you make a video for making one out of copper ?
Thanks for your comment, I no longer use this method and BTW i tried copper initially and did not work well. I now use a laser cutter to etch stencils from mylar (see my video on that), much cleaner and faster than this chemical method. For production I order stainless steel stencils.
I need to know to make the etching solution please
Amazing! You have inspired me...
What kind of acid is this? Is the 1 part of muriatic acid and 3 parts of peroxide?