Laser Printer And Iron Layout Transfer

Below are the steps which lead to a good transfer of layout to the copper PCB substrate

• print on the glossy paper (we use Edmund catalog)
• heat an Iron to max temperature
• clean substrate with soap containing abrasive (take some from mechanical shop) and acetone to get rid of oil and oxidation
• put the glossy paper with printout on PCB substrate, and cover with extra sheet of the regular printing paper
  • watch for air bubbles
• apply moderate pressure and iron for 60 seconds
• let it cool for at least 2 minutes, printing toner should have enough time to solidify
• put into the water, avoid direct water flow from faucet to the board at initial stage
• let it soak till paper start to peal itself (with Edmund catalog it happens, other people report that they have to rub the paper away) Have a look at the resulting sample, there are minor defect which can be fixed with permanent marker

This activity was inspired by How to make PCBs at home and how to make PCB

PCB fab in the box sells ready to use kit, with special paper, and device to transfer it to PCB reliably