Ferric Chloride
The basic principle of etching any metal
is to apply a substance to the
surface of the metal which will rOne of the most discouraging things
about making a hardware project (apart from obtaining all of the
components) is building the printed circuit board - PCB. It is
sometimes possible to use strip board or some other pre-fabricated board
but more often than not the circuit complexity and performance requires
a proper PCB to be made. The good news is that due to improvements in
printing and processing technologies it is now relatively easy to make
inexpensive high quality PCB's at home.Making
PCB's requires the use of Ferric Chloride (FeCI3) which is corrosive so
avoid skin and eye contactesist the bite of the etching solution.
This substance is called resist. Once the resist is applied, all you
have to do is submerge the piece in the etching solution and wait for it
to etch.
Etching Steps
- Dilute the concentrated Ferric Chloride
fluid with water and pour into the
container. - Place a sheet of news paper on a flat surface and put the trays on it's.
- Put the PCB copper side up into Ferric Chloride.
- Hold the PCB board with metal holder.
- Gently rock the top tray to keep the etch fluid moving avoiding spillage.
- After about 15mins all of the unwanted Copper should have disappeared.
- Remove the board and drop it into a bucket of cold water to clean off.
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