PCB Etching Using Permanent Marker | Part 2

[@spacewalker3519]

Thank you for this video. I've been doing all my projects on breadboards and vector boards. Some of the older things that I've taken apart appear to have been drawn by hand, not actually printed by a machine. That made me ask myself, how did they do this job before we had computers and printers? I just ordered some single sided boards and some pcb etchant. I'm ready to give this a go.

[@AbhasBhattacharya]

Marker suggestion for India - Use Kores Smoothline Permanent markers (thick tip), it is very etch-resistant. Don't use - Flair CD Marker, Artline CD Marker (worst of all, water-soluble).

[@tasmedic]

Have you tried different permanent markers for this? Which one seems to be the best?

[@eden12_penales]

Any permanent marker can do

[@SwapPartLLC]

@@eden12_penales Not true. Some permanent markers will not survive the etching. Sharpies do not work, despite being "permanent." They used to, but apparently they changed the ink formula. I use a Staedtler Lumocolor 318-9 and get excellent results.

[@SwapPartLLC]

@user-hy6yq4uk8e Never tried one. I experimented a bit with using my 3D printer to draw traces, and it worked for what I needed it to do, but it's not very practical if you need to do anything with 0.85mm or smaller pitch. I did manage to do a breakout board for a PIC18 with 0.85mm pitch, but it required some manual corrections with microscope and needle to scrape away some of the marker. I'm at some point going to try to use photosensitive boards and use an LCD for masking the parts which shouldn't be exposed to UV. It's the same process used in resin based 3D printers. I think some screen printing is done that way too.