Hey,
I found this article quite usefull, the method described in it is pretty much like the press-n-peel but a lot cheaper ;)
http://www.pablin.com.ar/electron/trucos/placaci/index.htm
Also some good tips for the non experienced are:
* Never use steam when you are ironing the board
* Don’t move the iron just let it sit firmly and do not apply too much pressure.
* Laser prints work best but a regular photocopy does the job.
Regards,
Emanuel
Emanuel,
I use that technique here with good results, but I was afraid to do my MB64 board, so I sent it off. The text I learned most of it from was here:
http://www.fullnet.com/u/tomg/gooteepc.htm
It may have a bit more detail to it, if you’re interested. The JetPrint paper they mention wasn’t hard to find. There’s probably a bunch that will work. One catch I did find, was the toner. On my first try, I ran my copies and some of the paper up to a local Kinkos (print shop) to be printed onto the photo paper. They looked fine, but the image barely came off the paper when I heated it. I ended up with this fuzzy, useless transfer, which wasn’t dark enough to block the etchant. Just out of curiosity, I took my next one to my father’s work, and had them print it from a standard copy machine, onto my photo paper, and it was perfect! The image peeled neatly off of the paper after just a minute or two in the water. With practice, I was able to get nice clean lines and readable text labels. It may be worth checking a different machine, if your results are discouraging.
The ironing and etching procedures were the ones which required the practice. I’ve done a couple small amps, and am going to try to start on a board for an EPROM/Atmel/PIC programmer tomorrow (the board layout is frightening).
- take care,
George
If you want some real shiny paper then get some self adhesive paper and remove the sticky sheet.
Print onto the shiny side of the backing paper.
I got best results by using masking tape over the whole paper when ironing. The softness of the masking tape makes for a nice pressure all over. makes up for any undulations.
I let my board cool naturally. When using the self adhesive backing the paper seperates itself from the board. I have never tried to cool the board and paper in water.
Laser worked best. try to get one with least amount of turns in ejecting as the toner really comes off the backing easy.
I must pay homage to LO for the details he passed to me regarding this process. 
Regards
Ian
Using this method it’s really hard to do boards as fine as the MBHP boards, which often have traces running between IC pins.
What happens is that the toner tends to spread a bit when you apply pressure from the iron. It makes the tracks just a little bit wider – enough to cause problems.
Also watch for little pinholes, you really do need to dab with a permanent marker prior to etching.
I use this method a lot, however, and have generally had very good results, but I’m re-laying out some boards so that I can continue to use this method to make some MBHP stuff.
Using this method it’s really hard to do boards as fine as the MBHP boards, which often have traces running between IC pins.
listen to ian hurlock and use masking tape over the side you are going to iron.
i have used this method a few times without the masking tape and the images can blur with only a little too much pressure.
i have not used the backing paper from stickers but the masking tape is a [glow=red,2,300]BIG[/glow] advantage and makes for a board that does not need tidying up b4 you etch.
Could someone describe what kind of tape exactly should be used? I guess not the plastic one used for electronics because it will melt. So , the one that’s like paper?
the tapeused is “maskin tape” and is called the same in all eng speaking countries i think. it is a sort of paper tape light yellow in colour (usualy) check in harware stores and esp painting places (will be more e4xpencive here tho)…
goodluck
Hey, I got all excited to try the method using the adhesived-back paper backing, but as I went to peel the paper to free the backing, I realized the backing was slit diagonally and I wasn’t left with a sheet I could feed into the printer.
So what type or brand or whatever of adhesive paper are you using??
Avery (I think its called) is the brand I used
Should be plenty of other brands around though
LO
Humm, I have Avery as well… Guess I’ll just have to hunt around a bit more…
Well, I found some of the right stuff. Avery adrress labels, actually 
And I am VERY pleased with the results!
So very much faster!
I just designed, printed, ironed and etched a small board in about an hour and a half, and the first hour was wrestling with Eagle!
Woohoo!
The adhesive-backing method just trimmed several hours off of my boardmaking time!
and taky back plastic is MUCH cheaper than pnp blue
Good for you DA5ID :o
What my previous post didn’t mention is that I cheched the “mirror” box in Eagle’s print dialogue when I shouldn’t have, and didn’t discover it until I had already drilled all the holes. So I had to start over
hi guys
i wonder what princip does it use?
toner in not resistant to echant? or is?
can u draw the same with a permanent marker and it will work?
it wont be as neat but ?
thaknx
You can use a sharpie… but i wouldn’t try it on theese designs. IC pins need to be perfectly aligned.
I had minimal succes with the above methods, though it got better everytime, i think it takes a lot of practice.
I read somewhere recently about sending the board and toner transfer paper through a laminator instead of using an iron, supposed to be more even pressure. Apparently there are laminators made specifically for this purpose. i may try one day, with a cheap laminator, but i’m not shelling out a bunch of money.( if it doesnt work well, i can always have luggage tags…)
hi guys
i wonder what princip does it use?
toner in not resistant to echant? or is?
The best way to think about toner is that it’s -like- powdered plastic while still in the printer, and it’s melted (fused) to the paper. The toner transfer process is simply re-melting the toner again so that it sticks to the copper.
The Ferric Chloride only attacks metal (but will stain anything, including porcelain under water!), so the transferred pattern is relatively safe when in the etchant.
When I do single boards, or don’t have enough etching to do to justify filling an etch tank, I do the normal transfer, then use toner reactive foil (usually used to make certificates w/laser printer) fused on to the resist, to make the resist a lot stronger. That allows me to pour a tiny amount of etchant into a tray, then use a sponge to “rub etch”. This is the most messy method, you MUST use gloves to do this. But I can etch a board this way in half the time it takes to run it in the tank, use almost no etchant, etc.
See more about this method at: http://www.pulsar.gs/1_tts/c_pcb/new_tricks/all_writeups_support/technique_contact_etch.html
Pulsar also sells large rolls of toner reactive foil here:
http://www.pulsar.gs/5_online_store_no_frames/1_tts_store/c_pcb/master_PCB_listing.html#Anchor-21683 (this is the cheapest way I know of to buy this stuff!, it’s a large roll)
Have fun!
SmashTV
Smash:Ever tried that laminator idea?
And who does the boards you sell, do they do small runs?
did someone tried using a “transparancy” paper ?
when printing on those, it seems the ink doesnt “soak” into it like an ordinary paper - only because it is made of plastic !
so maybe it is easier to transfer the image with it ?!
i dont think the tranceparencies like heat i have seen what happens what happens when they are in a photocopyer at uni.
hehe quite a mess