Simon said:
Has anyone got any more details on the device
pictured in
http://tinyurl.com/5ept8e
No.
1) I assume you know that MULTI-posting is a BAD idea.
2) IMO, that link
<
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2006/05/
homebrew_through_plating_machi.html>
is hardly long enough to justify an obfuscated URL.
- the original site appears to be down,
....yet you posted an OBFUSCATED link.
and the wayback machine is having trouble retrieving the site.
Actually, archive.org *never* made a copy of it.
[
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.basics/browse_thread/
thread/7afa1d1aeca9dd00/07bf51f193b99431?lnk=gst&q=through
+plating#07bf51f193b99431]
3) If you'll trim the fat from your links,
there is less need to obfuscate them. Examples:
<
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.basics/browse_thread/
thread/7afa1d1aeca9dd00/07bf51f193b99431?q=through+plating>
<
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.basics/browse_thread/
thread/7afa1d1aeca9dd00?q=through+plating>
<
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.basics/browse_thread/
thread/7afa1d1aeca9dd00>
it seems that powdered graphite is a reasonable first stage
for preparing the board for copper-plating,
Sounds like a mess to me--with a whole bunch of leakage paths.
Reminds me of the morons who ship back PCBs
with the problems written on them in pencil.
and it's a happy side-effect that the drill
rubs the graphite into the hole when it withdraws from the hole.
Sounds dumb to me. This seems MUCH smarter:
<
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:Amm35rO8k0oJ:www.ece.gatech.edu/
research/labs/vc/packaging/lectures/lecture9.pdf+ECE4803+pdf
+Sodium.potassium.tartrate+pdf+pdf+the.seed.layer
+Ethylene.diamine.tetraacetic.acid+for.plated-through.holes>
<(
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:Amm35rO8k0oJ:www.ece.gatech.edu/
research/labs/vc/packaging/lectures/lecture9.pdf)>
If you *don't* need prototypes RIGHT THIS MINUTE
(like you can wait a few days),
look into the pricing of professionally-done PWBs.
Since fab houses have been set up (several years now)
in e.g. Bulgaria and China, the prices of PWBs have gone WAY down.
Turnaround time too.
Domestic fab houses have also had to get more competitive.
As the pros get increasingly competitive,
most of the DIY stuff has fallen by the wayside.
If anyone knows of Markus Zingg's current PWB page,
add a URL for that; archive.org is the best I can do now.
(They only archive text, so no images from the 500'd server.)
**Machine For Homebrew Plated-Thru Holes (Page1of7)**
<
http://web.archive.org/web/20070629073753/http://www.myhome.ch/mzingg/
pcbstuff/tps/>
Mike Harrison's page lists the only commercial pseudo-PTH system
that had anything on the ball; that stuff is now kaput:
<
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:iiE5D2h-
NyYJ:
www.electricstuff.co.uk/pcbs.html+Update.April.2007+PCBCART
+highly.reccommend.them+out.of.production+Sodium.hydroxide
+Mike.Harrison+*-*-welcome.comments+Copperset+PCB.Pool+*-can't-be-
bothered-*-*-*+*-have-not-tried>
(Start near the the bottom where it says "can't be bothered"
then find the April 2007 update.)
....and here's an old thread on the subject:
<
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.design/browse_frm/
thread/4b432cc42b3647f5>
(You'll notice a recurring theme: "Let the pros handle it".)