Megaman Pet - Construction



The construction of the board. Stuff we'll need:


  • Some two sided copper clad board
  • Etching goop
  • A Laser printer
  • Some inkjet (yeah, INKJET) photo paper
  • A ten position dip switch.


Having spent way too long trying to use rub-on transfers or hand drawing with a Sharpie, I came across a novel approach to etch PCB's. Basicly, you design your pattern, then print it out on a laser printer using inkjet paper. This is then ironed onto your board. The laser toner melts off the inkjet paper and fuses to teh copper board. Sweet!

First we cut a hunk of copper board to the same dimensions of the Pet chip (1 7/8 x 1 3/32 inches or 3 x 4.75 cm). We then print out the pcb pattern at 300 dpi on glossy inkjet photo paper.




The pcb pattern printed from a laser printer on inkjet glossy paper.



The printed circuit next to the board before cleaning. The MOST important part is cleaning the board. Roughen the copper side with fine grit sandpaper or a Brillo pad. Then clean with rubbing alcohol and let dry.




The next step is to put the paper toner side down on the copper board. Set the iron as hot as it goes for five minutes or so. Wait... could it be... Skittlebrau?




The paper after being ironed nicely...



After ironing, soak in water for about ten to fifteen minutes... Then SLOWLY peel the paper away. If all goes well, you'll have a nice toner transfer ready to etch.

Drop the board in your etching solution and wait... After we've got our board etched, we need to drill and solder it.



Since I used a front and a back I had to solder tiny bits of wire through the center holes connecting the front and back traces... Should've used a surface mount DIP...



Lastly, we'll drop our DIP switch in and solder it as well.

The happy chip once complete...



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