I've got an email from PCBWay. They "want" to sponsor me, LOL. Like, didn't I make it clear already, how much I want to avoid depending on someone else to fabricate my boards? And the project they were "impressed" by, is the device, quickly thrown together to automate UV-exposure of #photoresist for #DIY #PCBfabrication.
Surely they're just scraping github for public repos, that contain PCB-related files inside, and automatucally send emails about how "fresh and creative" those projects are, but it's still kinda funny.

Keep yourself in shape, #maker, don't lose the ability to etch and solder your boards yourself. You never know when and for what reason your order is canceled and your account is locked, like it happened at JLCPCB recently.

Teach your #microscope how to print: Low-cost rapid-iteration #OpenSource #microfabrication for #biology:

- no cleanroom required
- replace SU-8 #photoresist & silicon wafers by #3Dprinting #resin & microscope slides
- #fluorescence microscope-based maskless #photolithography
- achieve µm-scale precision across cm-sized areas

https://doi.org/10.1039/D5LC00181A
#DIYbio #lab #instruments #microfluidics

Silicon Photolithography the PCB Way

#parts #developer #etch #etchant #hf #hydrofluoricacid #photolithography #photoresist #resist #sodiumcarbonate #uv #hackaday

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hackaday.com/2023/10/17/silico…

Lasers Make PCBs the Old Fashioned Way

There are many ways to create printed circuit boards, but one of the more traditional ways involves using boards coated with photoresist and exposing the desired artwork on the board, usually with UV light. Then you develop the board like a photograph and etch it in acid. Where the photoresist stays, you'll wind up with copper traces. Hackers have used lots of methods to get that artwork ranging from pen plotters to laser printers, but commercially a machine called a photoplotter created the artwork using a light and a piece of film. [JGJMatt] sort of rediscovered this idea by realizing that a cheap laser engraver could directly draw on the photoresist.

The laser dot is about 0.2 mm in diameter, so fine resolution boards are possible. If you have a laser cutter or engraver already, you have just about everything you need. If not, the lower-power laser modules are very affordable and you can mount one on a 3D printer. Most people are interested in using these to cut where higher power is a must, but for exposing photosensitive film, you don't need much power. The 500 mW module used in the project costs about fifty bucks.

Of course, once you draw on the board with the laser, the rest of the process is like it always has been. Develop the board, etch, and all that. We wish the laser could drill the holes as that's the part we hate the worst!

We've seen powerful lasers just cut boards, of course. You can also forego the photoresist and just let the laser burn off a coating of paint.

#laserhacks #laser #pcb #photoresist #printedcircuitboard