ritch Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Hi, Does anybody know of anywhere that will make a PCB with all the holes/copper printed on from a diagram? Or if anybody knows how to do it themselves and will help me out. I want to try my hand at making one of the General Guitar Gadgets Stage Centre Reverbs, but they are out of stock of the board. It looks really interesting as you plug in a separate spring reverb to get your sound. [url="http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_scr_pcb.pdf"]http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/pdf/ggg_scr_pcb.pdf[/url] Cheers Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 have you emailed to ask when they will have more stocks in? it may be easier (and I'm pretty sure it'll be a lot cheaper) to wait for that rather than source someone to do a one off board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobbass4k Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 al (username al heeley) can etch a custom one for you if you've got a PCB layout, drop him a PM i'm sure he'll help you out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 [quote name='bobbass4k' post='570820' date='Aug 16 2009, 05:06 PM']al (username al heeley) can etch a custom one for you if you've got a PCB layout, drop him a PM i'm sure he'll help you out[/quote] Be happy to etch one for you only I jammed up the office laser printer with my last lot of press'n'peel transfer paper so I'm having to resort to pretty simple small circuits now and hand etch-resist pen, which is not precise enough for complex circuits. As a rule, non-IC circuits, couple of transistors, etc. like boosts and basic fuzz circuits are fine but anything more complex than that and I would be struggling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dannybuoy Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 You can use a laser printer with regular paper - the toner is etch resistant and you can transfer it using an iron. Then you just need to get a little DIY etching kit from Maplins. But if you only want this one off board then it's probably better to get someone else to do it for you unless you see yourself making a bunch more once you've finished that one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 I can give it a go with normal laser-print paper and an iron from the link in the pdf doc, let me know if you are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 [quote name='Al Heeley' post='570898' date='Aug 16 2009, 06:17 PM']I can give it a go with normal laser-print paper and an iron from the link in the pdf doc, let me know if you are interested.[/quote] Can you let me know if this is successful pls Al? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritch Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 (edited) Hi Al, That would be awesome if you could give it a go. The layout is in a PDF in the original post - let me know if that's too tricky to do by hand or anything. I have emailed GGG, but had no reply yet - so it may be that they say it will be back in stock within a couple of weeks, in which case there's no point you going to all the trouble. Here's a link to the page of information I'm working from [url="http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=43&Itemid=75"]http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/index....3&Itemid=75[/url] Cheers Edited August 16, 2009 by ritch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritch Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 Of course, don't let it cost you anything - just let me know what I owe you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 [quote name='ritch' post='571102' date='Aug 16 2009, 09:52 PM']Hi Al, That would be awesome if you could give it a go. The layout is in a PDF in the original post - let me know if that's too tricky to do by hand or anything. I have emailed GGG, but had no reply yet - so it may be that they say it will be back in stock within a couple of weeks, in which case there's no point you going to all the trouble. Cheers[/quote] I'd say thats a little too tricky by hand etch-resist pen but I'm keen to try the normal paper/laser print route [quote name='steve' post='570928' date='Aug 16 2009, 06:50 PM']Can you let me know if this is successful pls Al?[/quote] No prob, will do Be interested for my own projects to see if I can get the iron temperature just right to let laser-printed paper work properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritch Posted August 16, 2009 Author Share Posted August 16, 2009 Great! Let me know how you get on. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 [quote name='Al Heeley' post='571167' date='Aug 16 2009, 10:52 PM']I'd say thats a little too tricky by hand etch-resist pen but I'm keen to try the normal paper/laser print route No prob, will do Be interested for my own projects to see if I can get the iron temperature just right to let laser-printed paper work properly.[/quote] cheers mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Well that seems to have worked out ok. Iron set a little hotter than Wool and pressed for about 7 mins. Initially I set it just lower than wool and left it for 3 mins - which would have been enough for the blue p'n'p, but I had nothing transferred. A little hotter and warmer seemed to do the trick. A fair bit of retouching with the etch-resist pen cos I had no faith in the print density, but it seemed to etch ok after the remains of the stuck paper had been carefully wet-rubbed off with fingers. A couple of the less dense tracks were tested for continuity but they are sound so Mr Ritch has a PCB to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 [quote name='Al Heeley' post='572044' date='Aug 17 2009, 08:34 PM']Well that seems to have worked out ok. Iron set a little hotter than Wool and pressed for about 7 mins. Initially I set it just lower than wool and left it for 3 mins - which would have been enough for the blue p'n'p, but I had nothing transferred. A little hotter and warmer seemed to do the trick. A fair bit of retouching with the etch-resist pen cos I had no faith in the print density, but it seemed to etch ok after the remains of the stuck paper had been carefully wet-rubbed off with fingers. A couple of the less dense tracks were tested for continuity but they are sound so Mr Ritch has a PCB to go.[/quote] looks great Al, I found [url="http://www.riccibitti.com/pcb/pcb.htm"]this page[/url] which talked about using glossy magazine pages - I don't know if there would be any added benefits tho. Unfortunately I don't have a laser printer, otherwise I'd have a go. I'll prolly be putting some business your way in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Heeley Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Thats a really useful article, thx for the link. True- using normal office paper the whole thing gets stuck to the pcb and needs careful wet rubbing with fingers to remove - printing onto magazine paper should stop the toner soaking into the paper so much (more like the blue p'n'p sheets you can buy). The toner rubs off easily enough with a soft rag and white spirit or nail varnish remover once etching is complete. Keeping the FeCl3 solution hot helps reduce etch time from 1 -2 hrs to 15 - 20 mins which can help preserve integrity of any any etch-resist pen touch ups you need to have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritch Posted August 19, 2009 Author Share Posted August 19, 2009 Al, The PCB arrived safe and sound today - looks great. I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks again Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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