How to make your own PCB

Printed Circuit Boards -- how to make nice looking ones of your own designs
There are a handful of ways available to the hobbyist to turn your own designs into
PCBs. They yield results of different qualities, where the quality seems to be inversely
proportional to the amount of mess you make in most cases!, and amount of money
you spend in all cases!. "#ll talk a bit about each, and then compare them all at the
bottom of the page.
$ny process that involves making your own board will have a number of steps in
common. $t a high level, here#s what you#re doing%
&. Procure a bare board coated with a thin layer of copper on either one or both
sides!. 'ost methods will use a plain board( photolithography requires one
coated with special light-sensitive chemicals.
"f you have a plain board, scrape off any burrs along the board edge you want
a flat copper surface( " use a fine file for this!, and clean it well to remove
o)idation and finger oils. " start with fine steel wool, follow up with denatured
alcohol to remove any oils or grease, and finish by buffing with a very clean
towel. *rom this point on, you#ll want to handle your board only by the edges
to avoid getting finger oils on it.
+. ,esign your circuit. ,epending on how you plan on actually producing the
board read on...!, your design will take one of a number of different forms -- a
hand-drawn set of lines on paper, a computer-drawn diagram, a design file
you#ll send off to a manufacturing house...
-. "f you#ll be producing the board yourself, transfer your design of desired
copper traces to the plated sides! of your board( the transferred traces are
resistant to your etching liquid more on this later!. 'ost home-brew board
production methods differ only in how they accomplish this step. "f you are
generating a design via computer, you#ll have to put some thought into which
way your printed design faces i.e., printed .right way up. vs. mirrored!. There
are enough ways to approach this that " split this information out onto its own
page here.
/. 0tch the board you#ve traced -- here, an etchant chemical removes all non-
masked copper( after it#s done, give the board a good wash under running
water to remove all traces of the etchant. "n most cases, the etchant will either
be *erric Chloride or $mmonium Persulfate *erric Chloride is more popular!.
These are available in both liquid i.e., premi)ed! and powder form( the
powder is generally quite a bit cheaper, but requires care when mi)ing.
$lso note that etching proceeds faster with &! warmer etchant, and +!
agitation. $long with saving you time, fast etching also produces better edge
quality and consistent line widths, so fast is good in this step. " pre-heat *erric
Chloride etchant in the microwave for /1 seconds or so you want it hot
enough to be barely-comfortable to the touch!, and slosh it around by hand as
it#s doing its work. $n old plastic free2er container with lid! is good for this
it allows for vigorous agitation, without making you wear any of the etchant!.
3ou can keep the etchant warm by putting the etching tray inside a larger tray
or sink filled with boiling water.
4ote that you don#t want to get *erric Chloride solution too hot, since it will
start generating 5ydrochloric acid fumes if you do very corrosive, bad for
eyes and lungs!.
6se lots of running water when you dispose of your used chemicals and when
you rinse off your finished board!, as etching chemicals will stain plumbing
and fi)tures and clothes, and e)posed skin...!. *erric Chloride, in particular,
attacks most metals -- including stainless steel. This stuff will also cause
permanent eye damage, so be careful out there...
"#ve heard good things about 7odium Persulfate it#s a clear solution so you can
see what#s going on, is non-staining, doesn#t generate any ha2ardous fumes!,
but haven#t tried it myself.
8. Cut the board to final si2e and shape, and drill holes in the board for
component leads. These need to be very small holes about 1.9 mm!(
occasionally you can find resharpened carbide industrial bits for sale from
surplus houses -- this is a good way to save money as resharpened bits cost
about :& 67 each, whereas new ones cost about :&1 67.
3ou#ll find these bits described in a variety of fashions -- fractions of an inch,
decimal inches, decimal mm, even .numbered. si2es -- "#ve got a conversion
table on a separate page. "deally, you#ll want to buy carbide bits they#re stiffer,
and thus .wander. much less than steel bits!, and you#ll want to buy a number
of them they break pretty easily, particularly if you don#t have a drill press,
and so are drilling by hand!.
;. Carefully scrub off the mask with fine steel wool under running water!, and
populate the board i.e., solder on your components!. 3ou should only scrub
off the mask when you#re ready to start soldering, as the copper traces o)idi2e
quickly i.e., within a few days!.
$fter the board is populated i.e., all the components have been soldered on!, "
usually follow up with a quick coat of spray polyurethane varnish -- this keeps
the shiny copper traces looking shiny, and more importantly! provides a bit of
insulation against .shorts. due to stray wires brushing up against the board.