- Joined
- Aug 8, 2000
- Messages
- 454
I reported on this material earlier, it's an iron on resist used for prototyping or hobbyist circuit boards. Here's a report on what I've found and hopefully someone may find it useful as a low cost alternative to buying/making an etcher.
Design your mark on the computer, make the fonts white on a black background then reverse the image. Print it out with the image on the "blue" side. Cut your stencil out leaving about 3/32-1/4" space around it.
Ensure the blade is clean, use good soap or acetone. I'm preheating my blades to 190*, the iron temperature is critical, you'll just have to experiment with it. NO STEAM!!!
I tack the middle down then iron it out from there. You'll see a color change as the resist sticks to the blade. Use a piece of paper to keep from scratching the blade.... Ask me how I know (*If you have a friend that does radio control airplanes you could use a "monokote" iron, they're really good for temp control and they come with a nylon "sock" to keep from scratching.) Just about any problem with the resist not sticking will be due to a "dirty" blade or not enough temperature. It takes me about 4-6 minutes of "ironing" to get the resist down, be careful because you can burn it up.
When the resist is down, cool with water, make sure the ENTIRE blade is cooled down, otherwise the heat will creep and let the resist pull away. Carefully pull the backing away. If the resist starts to pull away and you haven't rushed it, you can reiron. Use a sharpie to "fill-in" any places where the resist spotted.
I'm etching my mark by dipping a Q-tip in straight ferric chloride and daubing it on the mark. Usually 20 min gives me a nice etch on 5160, neutralize with windex or baking soda. The resist will come off easily with steel wool or fine sandpaper (I handrub my blades).
Use the "press-n-peel" blue if you're going to order it. I'm getting probably 80 marks per page of this stuff, it all depends on how you set it up on the computer.
Here's the link, the company has a $20 minimum, so if someone wants a sheet or two to experiment with let me know.
http://www.elexp.com/pro_npb5.htm
One other "cheapie" way to mark your blades. I ordered a "special resist pen" from this company for $3.95, guess what? It's a sharpie , you could color in a space with the sharpie then take a scribe and "sign/draw" your mark, then etch with ferric chloride.
I hope this helps someone out.
Design your mark on the computer, make the fonts white on a black background then reverse the image. Print it out with the image on the "blue" side. Cut your stencil out leaving about 3/32-1/4" space around it.
Ensure the blade is clean, use good soap or acetone. I'm preheating my blades to 190*, the iron temperature is critical, you'll just have to experiment with it. NO STEAM!!!
I tack the middle down then iron it out from there. You'll see a color change as the resist sticks to the blade. Use a piece of paper to keep from scratching the blade.... Ask me how I know (*If you have a friend that does radio control airplanes you could use a "monokote" iron, they're really good for temp control and they come with a nylon "sock" to keep from scratching.) Just about any problem with the resist not sticking will be due to a "dirty" blade or not enough temperature. It takes me about 4-6 minutes of "ironing" to get the resist down, be careful because you can burn it up.
When the resist is down, cool with water, make sure the ENTIRE blade is cooled down, otherwise the heat will creep and let the resist pull away. Carefully pull the backing away. If the resist starts to pull away and you haven't rushed it, you can reiron. Use a sharpie to "fill-in" any places where the resist spotted.
I'm etching my mark by dipping a Q-tip in straight ferric chloride and daubing it on the mark. Usually 20 min gives me a nice etch on 5160, neutralize with windex or baking soda. The resist will come off easily with steel wool or fine sandpaper (I handrub my blades).
Use the "press-n-peel" blue if you're going to order it. I'm getting probably 80 marks per page of this stuff, it all depends on how you set it up on the computer.
Here's the link, the company has a $20 minimum, so if someone wants a sheet or two to experiment with let me know.
http://www.elexp.com/pro_npb5.htm
One other "cheapie" way to mark your blades. I ordered a "special resist pen" from this company for $3.95, guess what? It's a sharpie , you could color in a space with the sharpie then take a scribe and "sign/draw" your mark, then etch with ferric chloride.
I hope this helps someone out.
