Etching PCBs

[Dylan]

also how do you go about disposing of them?

I've read in a few places that you can neutralise the Ferric Chloride by adding Sodium Hydroxide [caustic soda - used as a drain cleaner so you can buy it in boots and probably most supermarkets].
BUT the reaction when mixing the two is very exothermic so to avoid any kind of chemical burns you should dilute the ferric chloride before adding the sodium hydroxide. You will then be left with a solution which is safe to pour down the drain.

I thought i read that doing that turns it into a part sludge part liquid, where the liquid can go down the drain, but the sludge still needs to be taken care of properly, maybe that was something else though.

[parricide]

@dylan

why do you suggest a very fine tip? to get the lines thin?
i was thinking about getting a few different tips so i can have one for everything. my first board would have pretty fat lines though just to be on the safe side.


@tbone and dylan

thanks for the input on the disposal. i will look into this.

[Dylan]

I suggest a fine tip, mainly for IC's, just so if there won't be a huge pad per pin of the IC. If the pads are too big, there will be more of a chance of bridging. For other traces though, I would say a normal sharpie should be fine.

[merry1shah]

Etching is a "subtractive" method used for the production of printed circuit boards: acid is used to remove unwanted copper from a prefabricated laminate. This is done by applying a temporary mask that protects parts of the laminate from the acid and leaves the desired copper layer untouched.