Laser printer of PCB boards

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Pero699

Joined Mar 10, 2022
2
Hi, I'm planning to buy an old laser printer for a pcb work mostly for SMD and through-hole boards. Please share your experience with me or if you're printing PCB boards at home just like me then please share specification of your laser printer.

Thanks in advance!:)
 

KeithWalker

Joined Jul 10, 2017
3,063
I use an old HP Laserjet P1102w. I use two transparencies taped together to get enough opacity when exposing the photoresist.
Experiment for he best exposure times with whatever source you are using on a bit of scrap board, uncovering more at regular intervals.
 
Last edited:

AlbertHall

Joined Jun 4, 2014
12,345
Hi, I'm planning to buy an old laser printer for a pcb work mostly for SMD and through-hole boards. Please share your experience with me or if you're printing PCB boards at home just like me then please share specification of your laser printer.

Thanks in advance!:)
Are you planning on using the toner transfer method or transparencies and photosensitive boards?
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,708
Many moons ago I used to etch my own PCBs. I used a plotter fitted with a mechanical drawing pen.
A photographic negative was created from the plotter output which was used for UV imaging on photosensitive boards.
 

Ian0

Joined Aug 7, 2020
9,667
My thoughts on the subject:
1. Use tracing paper instead of film - the toner tends to stick better
2. Use a new laser printer not an old one - they seem to print darker when they are new.
3. They are not always dimensionally accurate. Print out a rectangle and measure it first. Then, if necessary, use a drawing package to scale your artwork. If using Adobe acrobat, make sure you don't select "scale to fit"!
4. Double-sided boards are tricky to align, and plated-through holes almost impossible.
5. The cost of presensitised board (and thus the cost of not getting it right the first time) makes it cheaper to send the artwork to China, especially if you can do a few together in a batch to reduce the shipping costs.
 

KeithWalker

Joined Jul 10, 2017
3,063
If you use transparencies, print a mirror image and expose it with the ink side towards the board. It reduces parallax and makes crisper edges.
 
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