DIY home-made SMT metal stencil - the definitive tutorial

Writeup and details at: lowpowerlab.com/blog/2013/02/1...
This is a walk-through for making cheap high quality SMD metal stencils at home, using commonly available materials.

[@pradeeplanka6976]

Excellent idea, everything needed is explained in short. Quality video and narration. Not even a second wasted. Thanks for sharing!!.

[@lucianorosa5559]

Excellent job Felix, in so many levels, very entrepreneurial and ingenious. Wish you continued success.

[@jeffbeck6501]

Amazing. The acid part was the most amazing part. I never thought that it would eat through the metal like that, and do it so perfectly. I am blown away by that. First thing I am going to do is go back and watch this video a few more times. Subscribed.

[@IlluminatedWhiteGuy]

Very VERY cool technique! I never would have thought it would be this easy to make DIY stencils!

[@fijabo]

I have watched two videos from you and I loved them. They are very clever and helpful. THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!!

[@FelixRusu]

Great, glad it worked out! It take patience and perseverence, but when it works it feels so cool to make your own HI-Q stencils

[@nevtelenfelhasznalo6151]

THANK YOU for posting this FANTASTIC video! I have been searching for an inexpensive way to make SMT stencils, and this is by far the best method i found yet. Thank you! :)

[@FixYourCameraOrg]

YES! Etching is the way to go for stencils, even for very fine pitches - it will do the job. Nice video, Thanks!

[@FreemanPascal]

Very cool - this is the other half of my puzzle for homebrew PCBs. Thank you Felix.

[@TheCode-X]

OMG impressive job!! That looks amazing, will try it at home for sure

[@MrSwanley]

Thanks for this. It took me two attempts, but the second attempt came out perfect. However I used laminated dry resist film, not vinyl. Lessons learned: use 0000 wire wool to sand off the resin from the coke can, acetone didn't work well for me. Be careful when sanding, as kinking the metal creates a crease that you can never get out and makes the stencil useless. Make sure metal is complely dry before laminating on the photoresist film (one website recommends having it wet, but the water turns to steam in the laminator and makes bubbles). Pause at regular intervals during etching to check under magnification, you don't want to over-etch.

[@youlemaster2845]

Really a very nice technique ! I just made my first stencil and the quality is really on top ! For information, having no vinyl, I did with a standard sheet of paper, the result is really good too. Thanks again !

[@TheRainHarvester]

From a laser printer? Did you have to stop the print before the laser printer does the heat roller to solidify the toner?

[@ThatElectronicsFool]

Awesome idea! I frequently thought about doing something similar, but never thought about using an aluminum can!

[@Project737NGX]

Excellent! I will be trying this next week, thank you very much.

[@timbo01889]

Very well filmed narrated and interesting video keep up the good work

[@dd884e5d8a]

Very impressive. Thanks for sharing your technique.

[@NordicDan]

Outstanding! I'm going to have to give this a shot.

[@megadeth369]

love your toner transfer method

[@krzysztofmeler]

Great idea, hope to test it soon.

[@kevinvold8872]

This is such a good idea. Thank you for this.

[@pkf4124]

so simple why am I not already using this method. Thanks for sharing.

[@DogByte2012]

Awesome video. Great idea! I can't wait to try this.

[@frosty129]

You are a complete pro. Thanks for showing us noobs how it's done.

[@FelixRusu]

Most often than not I now shrink by 8.5mil on all sides, even on some of the smallest pads (0.5mm pitch). This gives the best results when applying the paste and also best looking SMT stencil.

[@OMNI_INFINITY]

Saw now. Nicely done. Thanks!

[@ImaginationToForm]

Neat idea. Ive been collecting information to try smd. Ill give this a try when I'm ready. Still trying to decide on how to convert a toaster oven. Seems to be so many ways.

[@davisgrier5162]

Nice video. Can't wait to try this as stencil's are generally expensive.

[@MrTheEugenio]

Success finally! Your mixture ratio of 1 part acid, 3 parts peroxide is right, the problem was I had 10% muriatic acid (cheap cleaning brand and I noticed all other brands where around 25%). So I guess my mixture was about 1 part acid 6 parts peroxide before. I would have thought that with more acid the reaction would be greater but it's not so, this time with a 1:3 ratio it was much slower but it etched really evenly, the stencil looks great. Now to try with solder paste. Thanks for the info!

[@lmeza1983]

very well explained and nicely executed thanks for sharing, subscribed.

[@geniuskid29]

Alright. I'll try it this weekend. Thank you for the quick help!

[@TheRainHarvester]

Did your stencil work?

[@djsaso1992]

you're a genius!! INGREDIBLE!! incredible, I have to do it myself!

[@samykamkar]

Great vid, thanks!

[@sachingowda1785]

Dayumn Son!!!!!!! Samy Kamkar commented on this video!!! It means this method surely works. Going to try it right away without giving a second thought!! Cool video! and you are the coolest person Samy Kamkar!!!

[@mendimano]

very good and simple tutorial.

[@celem1]

VERY well done. Great ideas, well presented - Thanks!

[@behzadabf]

thank you very much .. perfect description and small useful video

[@richard7crowley]

Great info. Thank you VERY much for such a great presentation.

[@vandresv]

Thank you very much. I really loved this tutorial

[@abhijitrashinkar]

Nice trick, I appreciate your work.

[@slavric]

Hi. Thi is very useful video indeed. The idea itself is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

[@fuckgoogleforreal5273]

I love this video! brilliant idea and very well executed. I plan on using a laser cutter to just make the stencil without the toner. Do you know if this type of aluminum is safe for laser cutters?

[@electrotwelve6407]

I tried this out today and it worked quite well. I think I over immersed at the first attempt and the solution ate most of the board. The second attempt was quite a success.The only difference is I did not have access to the vinyl paper and I used photopaper instead. Yes it took sometime to scrub it off after applying it to the metal. Also the coating inside the can did not come off with Acetone. Hence I had to scrub it with a kitchen scrubber. Thankfully the toner did stick to the metal though. Any ideas on how I can safely dispose the etching solution?

[@the_runofff]

very nice procedure!

[@chipstheninja]

This limits the amount of solder paste that will be applied to the pad, and gives tolerance in board/stencil offset. It will also account for undercutting of the toner mask when etching. Using 7.5mil probably came from experience.

[@chopcooey]

pure awesome, gonna try this out!

[@abtra]

Yes, awesome! Thanks for this tutorial!!!

[@alecfleming373]

Amazing! You have inspired me...

[@briansmobile1]

On a serious note, what's the best way to safely dispose of the aluminum acetate type stuff left over?

[@MrTheEugenio]

By the way, the smallest parts where MSOP-10's and there are a couple of 20 pin and 24 pin QFN's, really small footprints that came out looking really good.

[@FelixRusu]

I would try a slower reaction, mine takes about 10-12min, feels just right, not to slow, not too violently fast. The solution is 1 part acid, 3 parts peroxide, but still using the same ORIGINAL mix since January this year. I kept adding a little copper wire when it got dull and that rejuvenated it right up.

[@alphonsesynrem28]

Awesome, thank you very much. I will give it a try.

[@PhantommenacePC]

Absolutely brilliant.

[@rickstd7083]

Thank you Felix. Worked perfectly. I just bought a Cameo 3 Silhouette. I'm quite sure it will cut out the freaking stencil. This KZbin is 2013... we are in 2017. any tough? please? with cherry on top.

[@FelixRusu]

Sometimes I just shrink in one dimension only (solder paste will reflow but what you really want is LESS solder paste). Sometimes after shrinking everything by a fixed amount I produce the PNG and then use the eraser to make the pads shorter on very small packages or on uUSB connectors. That's because too much solder paste will cause bridges. It's a lot of trial and error but after a while you start to get the feel of how much and which way to shrink pads.

[@OlegMazurov]

After unsuccessfully looking for a can with easily removable paint I found one in Asian food store. Thailand-made fruit juice comes in a bare can covered in plastic film like heatshrink. No chemicals necessary, just peel off the label :-). The inside is still in place but this is going to be a "back side" anyway. Juice is pretty good, too, and price is like US$1 per 500 ml can. Highly recommended.

[@MichaelFitzmayer]

That's ingenious.

[@JWH3]

With a fine tipped applicator and good solder paste stencils aren't needed really.

[@MichaelFitzmayer]

Jake Heuft you don't order/build a stencil to solder a single prototype. But I just produced a small batch of my current project and it was really helpful! Everything else is pretty time consuming.

[@deutrion]

I used it, good effect and useful

[@JWH3]

Michael Fitzmayer That's what job shops are for. Entrepreneurs or inventors can not utilize this. If you start to hit the boundary where this is useful to you, you need to abstract the business and find specialization. Either someone that has these skills or a third party.

[@Dancer148]

Great, I will try this soon.

[@FelixRusu]

Toaster ovens are cheap, but you can try the skillet method from Sparkfun, I haven't but lots of people say that works well. With the toaster I can bake more boards at 1 time.

[@dimchohvarchilkov683]

Great method! Thanks!

[@tonysofla]

It was like +20steps to print the top paste layer. Recommend to go with DipTrace, only 3steps: select export, set any shrink, preview and then print.

[@samcast1005]

this is really cool man!

[@wizrom3046]

I make stencils from clear plastic overhead-projector film, then cnc machine the holes with a 0.5mm or 0.7mm endmill. They are quicker to make and no issues of scaling like with a laser printer. And the clear stencil is great because you can see through it for pcb alignment. 🤓

[@FelixRusu]

Your city/county should have a hazardous materials center or day when they collect stuff like that. FWIW ... I'm still on the first batch of acid solution for etching stencils, I never had to throw it away, still works just as fast, just added a bit of acid and peroxide on two occasions.

[@FelixRusu]

Thanks, and yes your guess was pretty much very close

[@mrtienpham]

So, how do you prepare the vinyl? Is it just regular contact paper? Does the vinyl affect the printer somehow - does it mess it up? This transfer method seems much better than the paper method. Can I use transparencies as an alternative?

[@MrTheEugenio]

Thanks Felix. One more question. What makes the reaction faster? More acid or more peroxide? I made the first test but about halfway through I started to loose the edges of the pads, some disappeared before the etching could go all the way through. This took about 4 minutes so I was thinking maybe a faster reacting solution might help? The real solution would be to use toner on both sides but I dont think I would be able to align them! Would you try a faster reaction or slower reaction?

[@FelixRusu]

Depends what thickness and if it creases easy. The can aluminum is perfect due to its properties. I laser etch stencils today, much easier and less effort, see my video on that.

[@Shanoo5142]

What other etching solution can we use.

[@UpcycleElectronics]

@@Shanoo5142 Muriatic Acid is just a common name for Hydrochloric Acid. HCl is usually sold for adjusting the PH balance of swimming pools, or for cleaning concrete. It is also the first ingredient used in many many chemicals made in a chemistry lab. It's probably the most common acid available commercially around the world. One other enchant combo I've seen someone mention, and saved, but haven't tried myself is as follows: 150ml hydrogen peroxide 20g "lemon acid" (available in supermarket) 5g salt That's exactly what was described in a comment on another channel that I came across and took a screenshot of, but again, I haven't actually tried it. That receipe was intended for etching circuit boards but so is the Hydrocloric Acid and Hydrogen Peroxide shown here, (which is what I currently use to etch my boards too). -Jake

[@FelixRusu]

To give you enough buffer when you etch. Also you want the etched holes smaller than the actual pads to avoid too much solder reflow and excess flux residue.

[@brad8122]

Can I make .4mm diameter stencil with 0.8mm spacing between the disk centres with this method? For ddr3-2 sodimm type

[@FelixRusu]

​@@brad8122 I am guessing you could but you have to make a very good transfer, and then be very careful with the etching. However at how cheap stencils are these days I would not try that, at this point in time it's not worth the hassle and mess. Unless you want to experiment. Still back then in 2013 it was an attractive option for cheap (and quick!) stencils at home with very usable fine pitch.

[@shreyasraikar]

Great video

[@anandvishnu9203]

Very nice ! I need to try this out. Thank you :-)

[@noviy_polsovatel]

Is it possible to use Peroxide with some other acids? For example with citric acid? Maybe in pair with NaCl table salt...

[@Gustavo.564]

genio...!.. muy bueno..! gracias por compartirlo..

[@FelixRusu]

I tried leaving the outside paint on. That will obstruct the pads when they etch through risking to overetch if you cannot estimate how much they etched. So I prefer to give the outside a good wipe to at least have a clear idea how well the pads are etched. I also tried removing the epoxy layer with a pin, its way too time consuming and way too inaccurate. A laser cutter may be used to etch the epoxy but I haven't tried that - but the metal sheet has to be very flat, a bit hard with can metal

[@kazansergei]

I can not catch this moment - clear tape is covered on the whole space excluding black zone? But what about back side of pads - it must be covered also?

[@m3atwady]

Great video!

[@richardmayer3465]

Thank you for the great video, Felix. Happy New Year 2016.

[@marshalcraft]

this is incredibly usefull and time and money saving (waiting for electroncis to ship is horrid.)

[@ef836267]

Thanks a lot this video. This is very helpful for me.But hard work for me.

[@jairoalonsosampayobustaman6990]

Very Well!!! Me funcionó

[@ISmellBurning]

Excellent work. :D

[@everythingquads]

Great video. Subscribed.

[@FelixRusu]

Also, the iron is set to the hottest position (I wait till its heated up and then place it on top of the sticky note stack for ~30secs, then apply pressure and movement gently not to jerk the vinyl underneath ... then rapidly put the stencil in cold water. Then the paper/vinyl should come off easily revealing a perfect transfer.

[@pidbip6510]

Useful video!

[@FelixRusu]

Acetone will dissolve epoxy, get some from HomeDepot. Rubbing with a paper towel you should start seeing the metail within 1 minute or less. Some cans are harder, so try a different type of can. I found the heating does work in some cases and makes the epoxy easier to remove. I wouldn't worry about the paint so much. Just get the epoxy off without scratching the metal so you can transfer the toner. Keep trying, it will work, I've made many many stencils with this method.

[@geniuskid29]

Hey Felix - I'm having a lot of trouble removing the epoxy and paint from the outside of the can. I even tried used a hot-air gun set at the highest temperature to try to break the bonds between the paint and the aluminum, but to no avail. I was able to get some of the paint off but hardly any of the epoxy, and that was with a good hour to an hour and a half of elbow greases. Any suggestions?

[@ericst-denis8561]

Thanks Felix!

[@wormball]

You do not have to use peroxide cos aluminium is quite reactive and alcl3 is pretty soluble. Also you can use naoh instead of acid.

[@melquizedec]

I lost it at the final step. That board you show on 5:20 is the same cutted piece of aluminium you used in the beggining?....or this was just the stencil for the electronics? (processor and stuff)

[@farooqishaq6974]

great job but what did u use for etching?

[@abhilashbeta817]

MIND = BLOWN

[@MuhammadOwaisKhan83]

Good work

[@Tome4kkkk]

I was wondering initially whether this method is suitable for spray lettering/labeling stencils but I don't think so. All the rectangles of your project turned rounded.

[@geniuskid29]

So really I just need to focus on getting the interior epoxy off? I will try a different soda can. I was using Home Depot acetone though.

[@electrotwelve6407]

This is awesome! And just when I was looking for something inexpensive. What alternatives are there for the adhesive vinyl?

[@FelixRusu]

Haven't found anything better. Vinyl is perfect

[@inv4der1]

Hi Felix, I bought a vinyl like the one of the video (I think) but transparent, the thing is that, when I print the circuit the some tiny bubbles appear on the vinyl, I think because of the heat of the laser printer, do you know if this is normal, or maybe my vinil is too thin?, I used this print to test the transfer to the aluminum but it faild to transfer the print correctly, I would post a photo but youtube doesnt have the option.

[@slybino]

Hi Felix, Didn't work for the ink to transfer. I've tried different vinyl. What kind of printer do you use? Laser or jet. I've tried less heat and then longer 3 min high heat. The ink barely stick to the metal. I did clean and remove the coating with acetote. Any advise?

[@Mentorcase]

I like the aluminium can idea.

[@alessandroborges8907]

Very good!

[@Astinsan]

Thank you

[@nomad4715]

Thank you Could you write the requirements (with link) in description ?

[@MrSwanley]

Oh right, one last tip: check the developed film under magnification just before etching. Defects (pinholes) in the film seem to be common, but can be filled in using a CD marker pen.

[@currymuetze]

hi, for pcb boards many people use the less dangerous Na2S2O8 method instead of muriatic acid & hydrogen peroxide solution... dou you think that would work with a coke can too?

[@FelixRusu]

Try it!