Printed circuit board substrates derived from lignocellulose nanofibrils

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-91653-1

#HackerNews #PrintedCircuitBoards #LignocelluloseNanofibrils #SustainableMaterials #Innovation #TechNews

Cleaner Leaf sample with the overfilling fixed!! I'm crying it's so pretty. 😭🥰

Also happy with the water colors - these are how the enamels will look on the Water Unit Line!

Follow the campaign page to help get us to 250 and I will reveal the Water designs: https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/890fb8c7-209c-4f92-a691-c54f77a8da91/landing 💙✨

#leaf #leaves #enamelpin #enamelpins #pins #printedcircuitboard #printedcircuitboards #pcb #backerkit #pintopia #pintopia2025

I would love to get 100 folks following the prelaunch page of this before November ends (currently at 90) - if you know someone you think would enjoy these pin designs, please spread the word! :D

✨ https://www.backerkit.com/call_to_action/890fb8c7-209c-4f92-a691-c54f77a8da91/landing ✨

Going to be adding more of a teaser soon as well, so keep those eyeballs peeled. 👀

#printedcircuitboard #printedcircuitboards z3pcb #circuits #robots #animalart #technophilia #scifiart #enamelpins #pins #artistsonmastodon #fediart #wolf #cat #mouse #leaf

I've designed many #PrintedCircuitBoards and, for the first time, decided to try #KiCAD .

I've used many EDA tools, and bought even the mid-range product Altium Designer. KiCAD competes pretty well, especially for free software.

#PCB

I recently got email from an account manager (what us simpletons call a "salesperson") with #Altium , an #ElectronicDesignAutomation ( #EDA ) software company that I bought a rather expensive mid-range product from about 10 years ago.

I've never been able to use #AltiumDesigner without it crashing.

(I believe the root of problem is that the product is built upon the Delphi language and run-time executable, which appears to be an unsupported zombie product of the late compiler maker #Borland .)

The person suggested that I buy a software maintenance subscription (in addition to what I've already spent on a perpetual license) so that I may upgrade to the latest version. Based on my past experience with Altium, I'm not confident that this will fix my problem, or be more productive than literally flushing hundred-dollar bills down the toilet.

Lately I've been warming up to #KiCAD and I expect to make my next #PrintedCircuitBoards with it. It's a pretty intuitive tool (with a few quirks so far, all tolerable).

UV Printing PCBs

We always enjoy [Thomas Sanladerer's] 3D printing videos. But his latest isn't only about 3D printing. He shows how he uses a DLP printer -- which has UV light, after all -- to expose PC board blanks with great results. Honestly, once we heard the idea, we immediately saw how that could work it is surprising more people aren't taking advantage of their DLP printers like that. Of course, [Thomas] does his usual thorough treatment of the topic.

Really, this isn't exactly 3D printing even though it uses a 3D printer. Exposing boards with UV light and artwork is an old process that has been around for years, usually using transparency film and a UV light source. With a printer, you can create artwork digitally and the UV light source is already there.

We liked his test strip method for dialing in the exposure time. Reminded us of our old darkroom days. He also tried using resin as a resist on a bare copper board but that didn't seem to work as well as you would hope.

The first method, though, makes it painless to get the artwork on the PC board -- even easier than laser toner transfer or direct laser exposing it. However, you still have to do the chemical steps and our least favorite part, drilling the holes. Maybe a good argument to stick with surface mount.

We love and respect the desire to do things for yourself and if you own a 3D printer, you probably do too. But unless you are in a big hurry, PCBs are cheap to have professionally done now (as we once predicted) and it really doesn't make sense to create them at home, especially since it is hard to replicate plated holes, solder mask, and it is extra work to silkscreen the boards, too.

Still, if you need a quick-turn prototype or you just want the satisfaction of making your own PCB, don't forget that your DLP printer is a ready-made UV exposure system.

#3dprinterhacks #3dprinter #pcb #printedcircuitboards